A protest from the Haas F1 Team has cost Fernando Alonso a top ten finish in the United States Grand Prix, but a second protest against Sergio Pérez was thrown out.
Haas felt both Alonso and Pérez were driving cars in unsafe conditions during the race at the Circuit of the Americas, the Spaniard having a loose right-hand side mirror after contact with Lance Stroll and the Mexican with a damaged end plate after first lap a clash with Valtteri Bottas.
Similar end plate damage has seen Kevin Magnussen called to the pits for repairs three times during the 2022 FIA Formula 1 World Championship season, but stewards dismissed Haas’ protest as they felt Pérez’s Oracle Red Bull Racing car was no longer unsafe after the damaged wing end plate fell off on track after a few laps.
However, Haas’ protest over BWT Alpine F1 Team’s Alonso was more successful, with stewards agreeing with the team that the Spaniard’s car was being driven unsafely after his high-speed crash with Stroll on the back straight mid-way through the race.
The fact that Alonso was racing at all was amazing after he and Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team’s Stroll collided on the straight, with the Alpine driver briefly running on two wheels and against the barrier after he hit the rear wheel of the Canadian’s AMR22 as he attempted an overtake.
He had fallen to the back of the pack after Alpine fitted a new front wing and a fresh set of tyres, but the flapping mirror was the cause of the protest, with it falling off a few laps from the end, ironically not far away from where he collided with Stroll.
Both FIA Technical Delegate Jo Bauer and FIA Technical chief Nikolas Tombazis called the flapping mirror as ‘dangerous’, and Alonso was hit with a post-race ten-second stop-and-go penalty, which was converted into a thirty second time penalty.
“The Stewards are deeply concerned that Car 14 was not given the black and orange flag, or at least a radio call to rectify the situation, despite the two calls to Race Control by the Haas Team,” read the statement from the FIA post-race.
“Notwithstanding the above, Article 3.2 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations is clear – a car must be in a safe condition throughout a race, and in this case, Car 14 was not. This is a responsibility of the Alpine Team.
“The Stewards do not regard the Suzuka incidents from 2019 as “precedents”. Having considered the evidence provided, the Stewards determine that the Protest is upheld and the Protest Fee is returned.
“The Stewards determine to impose a 10 second Stop and Go penalty (30 second time penalty applied after the race) to Car 14.”
As a result, Alonso lost his seventh place finish, with Aston Martin’s Sebastian Vettel now inheriting this place, while Magnussen rises to eighth ahead of Scuderia AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda and Alpine’s Esteban Ocon, who now claims the final point.