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At almost nine o'clock tonight, five hours after the checkered flag fell in Austin, a statement from the FIA ​​thwarted

's "best race of the year" .

The stewards imposed a 30-second penalty for not complying with the safety conditions, by contesting the last stage of the United States GP without his right rear-view mirror.

In this way, the Spaniard, who had crossed the finish line in seventh position after a great comeback, was left without points.

A bitter ending for Alonso, who had suffered a hair-raising accident due to an error by

, his next teammate at Aston Martin.

The Canadian's swerve in the straight line completely destabilized the two-time world champion, who would crash into the side protections.

After changing the front wing, Fernando rejoined the track in last place.

From there, "with the fright in the body" and in very precarious conditions, he began to gain positions.

Despite the damage to his A522, he passed

(Williams) and

(McLaren), benefited from the penalty against

(AlphaTauri) and was able to get rid of

(Williams).

A few laps later, Alpine ordered a change of positions with

, so Alonso, with badly degraded tires, climbed up to sixth place.

From there he was no longer able to hold off

(McLaren), although those four points from the finish rewarded his valiant effort.

No penalty for Red Bull

"I have pushed as if they were qualifying laps. It has been my best race of the year and finishing seventh is incredible," Alonso said on the DAZN microphones.

"I was still thinking about the accident and I just wanted to get to the finish line," added the man from Oviedo, determined to maintain Alpine's fourth place in the Constructors' World Championship.

Also,

,

Alpine's

However, the spirits in the French team began to cool after the claim of Haas, who considered himself harmed by the accident caused by Stroll.

Alonso, accompanied by

, Alpine's sports director, had to give a statement before the FIA ​​judges, who finally relegated him to fifteenth place.

In his writing they were "very concerned" because at no time was a black and orange flag displayed, nor was there a radio message to warn Alonso of what had happened.

Haas had also protested against

, who had lost the plate of one of his wings.

However, on this occasion, the Australian

, the Spanish

, the Brazilian

and the American

, dismissed any sanction for the Mexican.

After reviewing the photographs presented by Red Bull, they estimated that Checo had indeed competed under the necessary safety standards.

Conforms to The Trust Project criteria

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• Fernando Alonso