After having received the first reprimands of the season in the first grand prix, in Bahrain , to Yuki Tsunoda, Lance Stroll and Carlos Sainz, in the second round of the year the first penalty points and the first penalty on the grid for the next event.
The biggest punishment was for Alex Albon, who on lap 48 tried to steal eleventh position from Stroll under braking for the first corner, touching his right tire to the left sidepod of the Canadian’s Aston Martin.
The big loser was the Thai of Williams, who lost the wheel and left immediately, ending up in the run-offs of the Jeddah circuit . Stroll spun and finished the race, but in last position and lapped.
The stewards first scored and then investigated the incident, finding Albon guilty, receiving the first two penalty points on the season’s superlicence . In addition, as his race ended there and he could not be penalized on the track, they imposed three positions on the grid for the next Australian GP, so he will lose three places compared to the position he achieved on Saturday in qualifying.
This is how the FIA stewards explained the sanction: “Car 23 was trying to overtake 18 inside turn 1, braking late. When executing the overtaking manoeuvre, 23 blocked and collided with 18 at the apex of the curve. We determined that car 23 was wholly or predominantly at fault for the collision.”
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Foto de: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Photo by: Sam Bloxham / Motorsport Images
Despite qualifying because he completed 90% of the laps (the incident was on lap 48 of 50), Albon scored the second KO of Sunday for Williams after Nicholas Latifi’s accident caused the race-changing Safety Car .
Albon wasn’t the only driver punished at the Saudi Arabian GP. The Chinese Zhou, who was once again on the verge of the points, also opened his penalty points box, since he was given a one and five second penalty for skipping a corner by blocking tires while trying to overtake Albon.
“Car 24 tried to brake very late but locked up and could not stay on the track and left to hold position. In doing so it gained a lasting lead and stayed ahead of car 23. The lead was not voided by reverting to position at the earliest available opportunity,” the FIA statement said.
In addition, the Alfa Romeo driver took another drive-through because of his team, since when he stopped to serve his 5-second penalty, his mechanics lifted the car and, although they did not work on it until that time was up, the simple fact of raising it is already considered an infraction, since the stop and go must be done completely stopped and without anyone touching the car.
How are the super license points after the 2022 F1 Saudi Arabian GP?
As for the points on the license, as neither Albon (who had a year as a reserve) nor Zhou (who debuts this course) competed in 2021, their locker was zero, and now they add two and one respectively. We remember that the greatest danger in this regard is run by Max Verstappen, who has seven and must avoid reaching 12 before September, when he recovers points.
Tsunoda has eight, but he will recover one on April 18 and Sergio Pérez also has seven, but he will be able to remove two on the same day as the Japanese from AlphaTauri.
