F1 Australian GP: “Too harsh,” Fernando Alonso disagrees with the stewards on Carlos Sainz’s penalty
Fernando Alonso got his third consecutive podium of the 2023 season at the Australian GP.
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Carlos Sainz, Fernando Alonso. Images via PlanetF1 & Road & Track.
Carlos Sainz had one of his worst F1 moments in the Australian GP. He was served with a five-second time penalty after the collision with Fernando Alonso. The Aston Martin driver spun in Turn 1 due to this incident (there was a red flag restart late in the race). The final laps were completed behind the safety car. And with a five seconds penalty, Sainz, who was running fourth, got out of points.
Carlos Sainz was frustrated with his penalty and called it “the most unfair penalty” he had seen in his career. Sainz wanted to talk with the stewards. He felt it was unfair. Well, the Spaniard had someone else to back him up. Fernando Alonso gave his thoughts on the situation and agreed with Sainz. Alonso was running third before the collision, and he was reinstated.
Speaking about the penalty, Alonso stated, “Probably the penalty is too harsh because on Lap 1 it’s very difficult always to judge what the grip level is and I think we don’t go intentionally into another car. We know that we also risk our car and our final position, so sometimes you end up in places that you wish you weren’t in that moment and it’s just part of racing, but I didn’t see the replay properly, but for me, it feels too harsh.”
Fernando Alonso understands that Sainz’s collision was unintentional
The Stewards felt that Sainz had enough room to make the corner without coming in contact with Alonso. Hence, they served him with a penalty. Though Alonso’s race seemed affected briefly, the Spaniard did not have to worry. He got back his third place. Alonso also revealed that he felt a touch by another car on the first lap. In turn three, he went wide with teammate Lance Stroll and Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc.
“Obviously I didn’t know who touched me at that moment. In Lap 1 of the first start someone touched me in Turn 3, and then in the last restart Carlos apparently touched me in Turn 1.” The two-time world champion mentioned that he had a normal start only in the Saudi Arabian GP. “Probably only Jeddah I had a normal start, in Bahrain also Lance touched me into Turn 4, so I’m very attractive out there! But our car is strong enough so it doesn’t matter if they keep touching us.”
Fernando Alonso is not rattled by the events that take place during the race anymore. The 41-year-old is confident with his AMR23. This is his debut with Aston Martin, and he is nailing it. This is his third podium of the season. The Spaniard is third in the driver’s championship standings. His teammate Lance Stroll is fourth. This puts Aston Martin in a comfortable spot in the constructor’s championship as well. They are nine points ahead of their rival team, Mercedes.
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