Fernando Alonso was awarded third place despite the stewards initially handing him a 10-second time penalty.
In a farcical outcome hours after the chequered flag, the Spaniard was stripped of third place – after the podium celebrations – before being reinstalled when the stewards reversed their decision.
Fernando was awarded third place after stewards reversed a 10-second time penalty
But the reality is this was another no-contest, with Alonso claiming third place after a bizarre stewards’ decision to award him a post-race penalty was overturned nearly FOUR HOURS after the race.
The Spaniard was hit with a ten-second penalty after his Aston Martin team failed to serve their earlier five-second penalty for an infringement on the grid where he was out of position.
As he came in to pit and serve his penalty, the Aston mechanics raised up the rear jack when the rules stipulate they cannot touch his car for a full five seconds.
It was an obvious slam dunk yet for some unfathomable reason, the FIA did not apply the penalty until after the race after a rival team had questioned the legality of the pitstop.
Red Bull continued to dominate this F1 season as Sergio Perez won the Saudi Arabian GP with Max Verstappen going from 15th on the grid to finishing second.
It was a reversed result from the opening race in Bahrain – but Verstappen’s bonus point for setting the fastest lap means he leads the championship.
George Russell was third while Lewis Hamilton was fifth as Mercedes again failed to challenge the two Red Bulls.
It is incredible to think that Hamilton’s last victory in F1 came at this track back in 2021, but since then Verstappen has dominated in a remarkable change of fortunes.
Verstappen qualified down in 15th place yet before this race the talk was still about whether he could still challenge for a podium.
The consensus was unanimous – only he was not on for a top three finish but more on for the win.
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By lap two, he had made up two places.
By lap eight, he had made up three more as he started to power his way through the field.
In the end, Red Bull cruised to the one and two positions.
