Fernando Alonso puts his controversial Jeddah podium trophy on display in his museum in Spain

Alonso had won his 100th podium in Saudi Arabia.

Fernando Alonso puts his controversial Jeddah podium trophy on display in his museum in Spain

Fernando Alonso (Credits: F1)

Fernando Alonso had a dream start to the 2023 season. With six podiums in the initial eight races, he was one of the most talked about drivers on the grid. Known for being cocky, Alonso recently put up his controversial third-place trophy of the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix on display in his museum in Asturias, Spain.

Alonso had finished third in the race, despite serving a five-second time penalty for the incorrect starting position. But, video footage showed the team had been in contact with his car while serving his penalty, which led the FIA to add an extra five seconds to his punishment after the podium ceremony, bumping up Mercedes’ George Russell to third place.

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Alonso then criticized the FIA for its late decision. Russell also claimed that the FIA was too harsh on Aston Martin. However, nearly two to three hours after the race, FIA overturned the ten-second penalty after Aston Martin’s appeal, which proved that the team did not gain any advantage even after touching the car.

FS Video

After a topsy-turvy decision-making process, Aston Martin eventually retained their podium with Fernando Alonso. While many would not be very public about this kind of win out of respect for the other driver, Alonso has proudly put up the trophy in his museum in Asturias, Spain.

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World’s best Rally driver Sebastian Loeb claims Fernando Alonso can beat Max Verstappen in the future

Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen
Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen (Credits: RacingNews365)

Fernando Alonso re-witnessed his glory days with Aston Martin at the start of the 2023 season when he grabbed multiple podiums. While he may have stumbled a bit on his form before the summer break, nine-time World Rally Championship winner Sebastian Loeb has claimed Alonso has the potential to beat Max Verstappen and win the world championship sometime in the future.

Loeb said that in the current scenario, only Red Bull can win the championship. He believes that Aston Martin is developing at a good pace and has the potential to build a car that can beat Red Bull.

“In Formula 1, winning doesn’t just depend on the driver. Today if you don’t have a Red Bull you can’t win, at least the championship. But I think he’s doing a great job with Aston Martin, they’re in the fight with the Ferraris, with Mercedes. Anything can happen,” Loeb told Marca.

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