• Chronicle A penalty snatches Alonso the podium in Jeddah while celebrating

Fernando Alonso is still a happy man. No one has told you? He just lost the podium due to a penalty. But Alonso appears in the mixed zone with a smile from ear to ear, happy as if nothing had happened. With the smell of champagne still in his overalls, the Aston Martin leader is simply not willing to be embittered by the stewards of the International Automobile Federation (FIA). He led the race in Jeddah, was fastest behind the Red Bulls...

"I don't care, I don't care if they take away what I dance. If they had told me before I got on the podium maybe it would have hurt me more, but now, after the celebration, the champagne ...", Alonso commented in an attitude that was not a façade. Before and after appearing before the media he was happy, hugging his mechanics, chatting with them, not at all bitter about what happened. Of course, the Spaniard, like his bosses at Aston Martin, did not understand that the FIA took so long to punish him.

"From the pit stop they had 35 laps [actually 32] to think about the penalty and they lacked time. For an hour the FIA was able to review the footage and did not. He has done everything wrong," launched Alonso, always so direct. The complaint did not refer to the delay in avoiding the podium ceremony, rather to the fact that, if he had known the second punishment earlier, he could have repaired it on the asphalt. His lead over George Russell, who eventually finished third, was just over five seconds, but he could have increased that rent.

"If they told me I have a 10-second penalty, I would have taken 11 or 12 seconds out of Russell. I could have gone faster, I had a little more. The Red Bulls were far away and that's why for me it has been a race to control the Mercedes and the Ferraris, "analyzed who also maintains the third position in the World Championship behind Max Verstappen and Checo Pérez. "I don't know if I'm still full for having climbed the podium or if I haven't assimilated it yet, but I'm left with a good taste in my mouth," Alonso concluded.

Aston Martin's response

Late at night on the street circuit of Saudi Arabia, Aston Martin officials said they were studying a claim, that they had not benefited from the touch of the rear jack in Alonso's car, but officially there were no news.

"We did not work on the car in the five seconds of the first penalty, in fact we were longer to add margin and that there were no problems," said team principal Mike Krack, without raising an eyebrow, showing his astonishing tranquility. "Whatever happens, we have to keep the positives of the race. We have not stolen that podium by doing a ruse, we have been competing at the top, we have finished third with a margin over fourth, "argued the manager with an eye already set on the next race, in Australia. Like Jeddah, supposedly an unfavorable circuit for Aston Martin, too fast, but seen the seen the return to the podium is more than possible.

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  • Fernando Alonso
  • Saudi Arabia
  • Ferrari
  • Articles Javier Sánchez