When Fernando Alonso was about to savor some long-suffering points in the first Formula 1 Miami Grand Prix in history, the FIA decided to impose another penalty of five seconds and one point on his license (a total of five in the last 12 months) after considering that he had “gained an advantage off the track”.
The body that regulates the highest category of motorsport published a statement at 18:48 local time in Miami [00:48 time in Spain] informing about the decision in the action of the Asturian driver, something that, initially, was noted down for race direction but that has finally made him lose his points position.
Alonso had missed Turn 14 which forms the tricky chicane under the bridge on the penultimate lap as he tried to pull more than five seconds behind rivals ahead, and the FIA decided that had allowed him to gain “a lasting lead”.
As a consequence, they erased the time for that lap and added five more seconds to the final time.
“The stewards reviewed the video evidence and determined that car 14 went off the track at turn 14 and gained a lasting lead,” the FIA explained in its message to the media.
“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal certain decisions of the
of the stewards, in accordance with article 15 of the FIA International Sporting Code and the
Chapter 4 of the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Regulations, within the applicable deadlines,” the federation said.
The reason for this penalty to Alonso is due to the fact that he violated article 33.3 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations , which obliges drivers to “make all reasonable efforts to use the track at all times and cannot leave it without a reason. justified.”
Thus, adding these five seconds to the other five that were imposed on him for his contact with Pierre Gasly in the middle of the race, the driver from Oviedo remains out of the points by a few thousandths of a second.
In total there were 102 that separated him from adding a point in the Miami test, which went to Lance Stroll. Alonso, in this way, keeps his only four units that he has achieved in five races, something quite poor seeing how the Alpine A522 works.
