Alonso regains 100th F1 podium

The 100th career Formula 1 podium of Fernando Alonso at Saudi Arabia has been reinstated after Aston Martin’s successful review.

Alonso secured a joyous back-to-back P3 at Jeddah behind both Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen in the second round of the 2023 Formula 1 World Championship.

He and the Aston Martin team celebrated in style, but their joy was short lived when it was revealed a post-raced penalty dropped him to fourth.

Alonso had a dramatic day, starting second and taking the lead, before receiving a five-second penalty for incorrectly lining up on the grid.

Car #14 served it at his first stop under the Safety Car, but was given another 10-second penalty post podium celebrations after it was adjudged an Aston Martin crew member commenced work with the rear jack before the initial penalty was completed.

It meant Alonso only found out he had lost his podium after receiving the trophy and spraying the champagne.

However, Aston Martin swiftly seeked a review and the FIA announced the new evidence suggested the decision should be overturned, reinstating Alonso’s milestone podium.

Fernando Alonso leads the field through turn 1 at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. Photo by Mark Sutton / Sutton Images

“Having reviewed the new evidence, we concluded that there was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the Stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car, without more,” read the FIA statement.

“In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly.”

The Spaniard who was robbed of becoming the sixth driver ever to score a century of F1 podiums believed there was ‘something wrong with the system’ after the late original announcement.

“I think today is not good for the fans, when you have 35 laps to apply a penalty and to inform about the penalty,” Alonso told Autosport.

“You wait for after the podium, there is something really wrong in the system, but it’s the way it is.

“I feel sorry for the fans. But I really enjoyed the podium. I had the trophy, I had pictures, I celebrated with the champagne and now to have 15 points or 12 points it really doesn’t change much for me.

“But it’s a bit sad for the FIA.”

Even after being promoted to a podium place, George Russell thought the original penalty was “too much”.

George Russell’s podium joy only lasted a handful of hours. Photo by Steve Etherington / LAT Images)

“I think a little bit of common sense needs to be shown and ultimately, I think he was a bit to the left, was that right?,” Russell said in the press conference.

“He gained nothing from this. Perhaps a five second (penalty) is too much and then with regards to his pitstop again, I don’t know what happened and why he received the further penalty exactly.

“But a 10 second is too extreme in that case again, so I’m not too sure it’s just making it a little bit, I guess, frustrating for everybody.”

Despite the confusion, Alonso can now get his hands back on the trophy and the initial elation he experienced when he jumped out of the car can remain with him.

Back-to-back podiums at Bahrain and Saudi Arabia means Alonso sits third in the championship and heads to Australia as easily the best behind the dominant Red Bulls.

Alonso said he is still astounded with the immediate success at his new home.

“What a start to the season,” he smiled in parc ferme. “I mean this (two podiums) was probably unthinkable one month ago when we launched the car.

“But these guys made a fantastic car. We had fantastic execution of the race in Bahrain, and here as well, with the strategy, and the two podiums.

“It was a hard Grand Prix but those guys gave me power.

“I pushed all the way through like qualifying laps and Red Bull is maybe a little bit out of reach, but the rest they were behind so happy for that.”

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