Alpine protests Alonso's post-race sanction in Miami

Alonso lost his ninth-place finish at Miami last weekend after he was handed a five-second penalty by race stewards for gaining a lasting lead after accidentally cutting the chicane near the end of the race.

Racing ahead of a pack of cars including Mick Schumacher and Sebastian Vettel, Alonso made a mistake at the chicane and cut it short, giving him a brief time advantage. Alonso crossed the finish line of the Miami race in eighth position, but adding the five-second penalty for his contact with Pierre Gasly, he only lost one place to teammate Esteban Ocon.

That left the Alpines in 8th and 9th place, adding five points in the constructors’ championship. However, an hour and a half after the checkered flag, Alonso was handed a second penalty of a further six seconds (plus a point on his license!) for “having left the track and having gained a lasting lead”.

The incident concerned Alonso going off the track at turn 14 of the tricky chicane at the Miami International Speedway on lap 53 (of 57). It is an image that was not seen on television, like so many other aspects of a race in which the fans in the stands seemed to be more of a protagonist than the cars and drivers.

And this Wednesday, in a statement reviewing the Miami GP race, the CEO of Alpine, Laurent Rossi , has expressed the team’s discomfort at that subsequent sanction.

“A disappointing post-race penalty for Fernando for going off the track and taking the lead makes the six points we had taken at the checkered flag four, and cost us a deserved double points finish,” he said. the fourth tweet in the thread used by the team to analyze the race.

In addition, Rossi assures that Alonso returned the position by slowing down the pace on that lap and, above all (which is the most serious part of the matter), he protests the impossibility of defending himself before the stewards: “It is a sanction that is certainly difficult to accept, since Fernando He returned the time during the lap and we were unable to present the evidence to clarify the particular situation before the penalty was issued.”

Closing the thread on Twitter , in Alpine they insist on the seriousness of not having been able to present evidence: “With the opportunity to explain ourselves, we are very sure that Fernando would have kept his ninth place. We will return next weekend in Spain, where we are determined to achieve a much more skillful and fairer weekend and show the real potential of our car”.

Alonso’s penalty allowed Williams driver Alex Albon to finish ninth, and the final point of the top 10, in tenth place, was inherited by Lance Stroll by just 0.102 seconds over the two-time champion.

Without that sanction, Alonso would have put an end to a streak of three races without scoring, in a very unlucky start to the year. The #14 lamented that in Miami there were no “gifts” and declared that “luckily no points have arrived yet, but I hope that one day they will.”

The photos of Fernando Alonso at the Miami GP 2022 F1

Fernando Alonso drivers parade, Alpine F1 team

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Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 Team, Stefano Domenicali, CEO, Fórmula 1

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 team

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Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine F1 team

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Photo by: Jerry Andre / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, A522

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Fernando Alonso, A522

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Fernando Alonso, A522

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Fernando Alonso, A522

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Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-22, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, George Russell, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Esteban Ocon, Alpine A522

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Foto de: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Valtteri Bottas, Alfa Romeo C42, Pierre Gasly, Alpha Tauri AT03, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A5

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Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, in the pits

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, in the pits

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Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Mick Schumacher, Haas VF-22

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Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Carl Bingham / Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22

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Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, Daniel Ricciardo, McLaren MCL36

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Foto de: Glenn Dunbar / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, battles Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, ahead of Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522

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Photo by: Mark Sutton/Motorsport Images

Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, Lance Stroll, Aston Martin AMR22

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Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13, Pierre Gasly, AlphaTauri AT03, Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36, Fernando Alonso, Alpine A522, the rest of the group at the start