Alonso has the looks of the podium and ignores the undercut
Fernando Alonso shrugged off his disappointment on Sunday as he grabbed the 100th podium of his impressive career at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard received a 10-second penalty after the race for a pit stop violation when he was serving a five-second penalty for making an incorrect start.
Satisfied with his spirited drive towards Aston Martin, he said he was not seriously upset by the decision and was encouraged by the performance of his car and the team.
He said, “I’m not very upset.” “It was good and it didn’t hurt too much. I was on the podium, I took pictures, I got the trophy. I celebrated with champagne. Now I have three points less and I don’t have 15, I have 12.”
“I think it is more of a poor showing from the FIA today than a disappointment to ourselves.
“You can’t apply a penalty 35 laps after the pit stop. They had enough time to let us know. If I had known about the penalty I would have had 11 seconds with the car.”
“I think we’ve been here faster than we’ve been in Bahrain and it looks very good for the future.”
The 41-year-old champion had taken the lead going into the first corner of the 50-lap race but was handed a five-second penalty for starting from an incorrect position, too far left in the slot grid. .
He attempted to serve the penalty when he came to stop him, after being passed by Red Bull race winner Sergio Pérez, but the mechanic, a rear-wheel drive thrower, was adjudged to have touched the car before the five seconds had elapsed.
It was a similar violation to that of Alpine driver Esteban Ocon who was handed three penalties in the season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix.
The decision was not announced until the end of the race – and after the famous Spaniard appeared on the podium and in post-race interviews.
Alonso, who set a record 357 race starts, paid tribute to his team after the race.
“These guys have made a great car, great race execution here and in Bahrain, with strategy and now two podiums.
“These guys give me strength and I keep going all my way and in the qualifying rounds as well. The Red Bulls are out of reach, but the rest were behind us so I’m happy with that.”
Aston Martin principal Mike Crack said they were studying the videos before deciding whether to appeal.
“We are studying this now and we don’t yet know how we are going to deal with it.”
str/pb/bsp
