20/04/2024
NEWS STORY
Fernando Alonso has been handed a (meaningless) 10s penalty following his clash with Carlos Sainz as they battled for third during the Sprint.
Leading a DRS Train that included fellow countryman Sainz, Sergio Perez and Charles Leclerc, the Aston Martin driver at one point hit the Spaniard's Ferrari, picking up damage, including a puncture that led to his subsequent retirement.
Though Sainz had got the better of Alonso, the Ferrari driver subsequently lost out to Perez and Leclerc having also incurred damage in the clash.
The stewards, having heard from both drivers, their team representatives and having reviewed positioning/marshalling system data, video and in-car video evidence, determined that Alonso caused a collision at Turn 9.
The result of the collision was that Sainz' car was damaged and Alonso's had a puncture and subsequently retired.
As per the guidelines on driving standards, which was agreed with the teams, an infringement of this nature requires that a baseline penalty of 10 seconds be added to the time of a car that caused a collision.
However, Article 54.3 of the Sporting Regulations states if the 10 second penalty is imposed after the end of a sprint session, then 10 seconds will be added to the elapsed time of the driver concerned, the stewards accordingly added 10 seconds to Alonso's elapsed time in addition to handing him 3 penalty points - bringing his 12 month total to 6.
As an aside to the FIA, the stewards noted that the language in the regulations as to when a car has retired and the resultant consequences on penalties that may be imposed or served, especially when that car is otherwise classified, is somewhat unclear and they therefore recommend that the FIA considers making the necessary amendments to bring greater clarity to the issue.
"It was tough racing with a couple of corners parallel to each other, wheel to wheel battle, at the end someone has to give up," said Alonso after the race. "I gave up at Turn 8, the racing line, to avoid contact and he didn't give up in Turn 9 and we didn't avoid the contact."
"I think I did a really good move around the outside of Turn 7," countered Sainz. "I think from then on he decided to be all or nothing into Turn 9, which cost us both the race because I think I picked up damage and a lot of dirt in my tyre from that optimistic move."
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