The 100th podium of the Spaniard’s career comes in the most absurd way: Aston Martin’s appeal against the second 10-second penalty was decisive
Third place, then the cold shower during the awards ceremony. But ultimately, the 100th podium of career Fernando Alonso he managed to celebrate it for real. All thanks to the team of him, theAston Martinwhich he presented shortly before 21 in Italy (23 in Saudi Arabia). appeal to the FIA against the second penalty of 10 secondsawarded to the Asturian for not correctly serving the first infraction of five seconds suffered at the start of the race. That is when Alonso had not placed correctly on the starting grid (it was with the front left out), then burning at the start Sergio Pérez. The number 14 can thus take the second podium of season after Sakhirrejoicing at another major milestone in an extraordinary career.
100th Podium ! What an amazing TEAM we have and fast car! Proud of you @AstonMartinF1 ????. pic.twitter.com/ozhApWJbc1
—Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) March 19, 2023
The mechanic and the jack
To understand what happened, however, the tape must be rewound to when, in the middle of the race, she entered the Safety Car for the retirement of Alonso’s partner in Aston Martin, Lance Stroll. Then the Spaniard had returned to the pits to mount the hard ones and discount the famous ones five seconds immediately on the go. During the pit stop, however, the Spaniard’s car had been touched by the mechanical positioned with the stand behind the single-seater, the one that has the task of raise it to allow the tire change. A behavior that was initially considered as irregularbecause it fell within the definition of “work on the single-seater”, prohibited activity during the penalty.
The official press release: “Wrong team-Fia agreement”
Aston Martin, however, has managed to do think again the judges, by resorting to a quibble in the regulation. He did so by presenting his material to the FIA staff, taking the laws as a reference rooms the garage e seven identical previous. Showing that there was no clear agreement between the 10 team of the Circus and the Federation on the fact that touching the single-seater with the jack was considered an “effective job”. The official press release on the appeal upheld by Aston Martin was released at 1.02 local (11.02 pm Italian time): “The team has clearly demonstrated – it is written – that the alleged representation of an agreement between the FIA and the teams, which provided that touching the car in any way, even with a jack, constituted a ‘job’ on the car for the purposes of article 54.4 (c) of the Sporting Regulations, was incorrect and therefore the basis of the Stewards’ decision was wrong”. Moral of the story: penalty removed e George Russell (Mercedes) returned fourth behind Alonso’s Aston Martin and ahead of his box mate Lewis Hamilton. Just how it was officially finished the Jeddah race.
The Drivers classification updated
With the podium, Alonso rises to quota 30 and maintains the third position behind the elusive Red Bull duo. Here is the complete classification: Max Verstappen 44 points, Sergio Perez 43, Fernando Alonso 30, Lewis Hamilton 20, Carlos Sainz 20, George Russell 18, Lance Stroll 8, Charles Leclerc 6, Valtteri Bottas 4, Pierre Gasly 4, Esteban Ocon 4, Alexander Albon 1, Kevin Magnussen 1, Yuki Tsunoda 0, Logan Sargeant 0, Nyck de Vries 0, Nico Hulkenberg 0, Guanyu Zhou 0, Lando Norris 0, Oscar Piastri 0 .
Constructors classification
Red Bull 87 points, Aston Martin 38, Mercedes 38, Ferrari 26, Alpine 8, Alfa Romeo 4, Williams 1, Haas 1, McLaren 0, AlphaTauri 0.
