‘We’ve been victims,’ Toto Wolff compares Fernando Alonso podium saga to Abu Dhabi GP 2021 ‘robbery’

Toto Wolff has compared Fernando Alonso's recent podium controversy to the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP, which he felt 'robbed' Lewis Hamilton of a championship.

‘We’ve been victims,’ Toto Wolff compares Fernando Alonso podium saga to Abu Dhabi GP 2021 ‘robbery’

Fernando Alonso (L) | Lewis Hamilton (R) | Toto Wolff has compared Alonso's Saudi Arabian GP podium saga and the 2021 Abu Dhabi GP controversy

It looked like a fantastic start for Fernando Alonso in Saudi Arabia, as the Spaniard overtook Sergio Perez going into the first corner. However, it soon unraveled, as he was judged to have been incorrectly positioned on his grid box. He was a little bit to the left than permitted, and so was promptly handed a 5-second penalty. Soon, he also lost the lead on track. It all seemed straightforward from that point, as he finished P3. But post-race, he was handed a 10-second penalty – promoting George Russell, from Toto Wolff’s team to P3.

This meant he would lose his 100th podium finish. The penalty had been given because the rear jack had touched Alonso’s AMR23 during his pitstop before the five seconds of the penalty had been served. Alonso had pitted under the safety car after his teammate, Lance Stroll, retired from the race on lap 18. However, much to his and the fans’ relief, his podium was reinstated after Aston Martin asked for a review.

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It was concluded that there was ‘no clear agreement’ that a jack touching a car could be considered as ‘working on the car’. So while there was elation that Alonso’s podium was given back his rightfully-earned 100th podium, the FIA caught no small amount of flack for this. It was even termed ’embarrassing’ by Martin Brundle. Now, it has been compared to the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix safety car saga by Toto Wolff, who happened to be on the wrong side of the said controversy.

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The safety car saga at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is now one of Formula 1’s most controversial moments. It was expected that the safety car period, which started due to Nicholas Latifi’s crash, would last till the end of the race. However, there was to be one, final, lap of racing action to decide the 2021 champion Max Verstappen had pitted during the safety car period and was on fresh tires. This meant that Lewis Hamilton, who was in the lead of the race, was a sitting duck with his old hard tires.

Read More: George Russell demands a “little bit of common sense” from FIA stewards after Fernando Alonso podium drama

Toto Wolff wants to see the right decisions – not rushed ones

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso (L) | Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (C) | Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (R)
Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso (L) | Red Bull driver Max Verstappen (C) | Mercedes driver Lewis Hamilton (R)

As described by the race director, Michael Masi, the sport went ‘car racing’. Max Verstappen overtook Lewis Hamilton en route to his first world championship win. But the race restarted before all the lapped cars got a chance to unlap themselves. Only the cars between the two championship rivals had unlapped themselves, and this led to end of controversy. Masi later lost his job, and his actions were deemed “human error”. But the championship remained with Verstappen.

And using this and the Fernando Alonso penalty as his example, Toto Wolff put to Channel 4 that he would rather see the correct decisions than rushed ones. The Austrian said: “First of all, the penalty was super harsh because from the pure driving performance Fernando and Aston Martin deserved to be on the podium. We have to look at those regulations and see is there is anything we can tweak because it didn’t affect his race.”

He added: “I’d rather have the FIA come to the right decisions than be too quick and obviously fall into something that’s wrong. We’ve been victims of that in 2021 where everything was down to the entertainment for a quick decision and it robbed the greatest driver of the championships. So in that respect, I think I’d rather not go to the podium and have the correct result afterwards.”

Since then, things seem to have gone bad to worse for Hamilton and Mercedes. The package hasn’t been good enough. Verstappen, on the other hand, won a second title in dominant fashion and is a favorite for a hat trick. Fernando Alonso, at least at the moment, will hope that his team can make inroads to Red Bull, but they progress they’ve made already has been very encouraging.

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