Stewards cancel Alonso’s penalty in Austin and return 7th place

After a series of protests and revisions, the stewards canceled the 30-second penalty for Fernando Alonso in Austin, pushing him back to seventh.

Initially, the FIA ​​rejected Alpine’s protest over the fine, but the team immediately asked for a review – and on Thursday evening they got their way.

Alonso was fined in Austin after Haas F1 protested the results of the race, saying the Alpine car was in an unsafe condition on the track. The right side mirror of Alonso’s car came about 38 minutes after it was damaged in a collision with Lance Stroll from his A522.

The stewards agreed with Haas F1 and fined Alpine because the team was responsible for the safety of the car. And they pointed out race director Niels Wittich that he should show Alonso a black-and-orange flag, which would force him to go into the pits for repairs.

Haas F1 failed to protest within 30 minutes of the provisional race standings being published, which the stewards acknowledged in their original verdict, but the International Sporting Code allows exceptions to this rule “in circumstances where the stewards of believe that the thirty-minute time limit cannot be met.” At the time, the stewards stated that “in this case it was impossible to meet the deadlines and that the protest was allowed.”

Today, the Alpine team tried to challenge the rejected protest with another protest, but the stewards also rejected it – it was filed too late – an hour and eight minutes after the decision on the original Haas F1 protest.

The stewards noted that the stewards’ decisions and summons to hearings cannot be challenged by filing a protest with the stewards.

“If Alpine did not agree with the stewards’ decision, they should have appealed to the FIA ​​International Court of Appeal, which should have been notified to the stewards within an hour of the decision, as stipulated in the FIA ​International Sporting Code and the Judicial Disciplinary Rules.

Alternatively, in the event that important and new evidence is discovered, the Alpine team may make a request to the stewards in accordance with Article 14 of the Code for review. This feature will remain available 14 days after the race.”

Since the deadline has not yet passed, Alpine requested a review, stating that there is new evidence on the controversial issue.

There was again talk of the stewards taking the Haas F1 protest too late, with Alpine challenging the original decision that it was not possible to do this earlier.

Haas F1 manager Peter Crolla admitted his team would have done it sooner “if the FIA ​​official in charge of the race hadn’t said the team had an hour” to file a protest.

The Mexican Grand Prix stewards agreed with Alpine’s “argument that the word ‘impossible’ is too strong and the handwritten protest could have been filed in time. This means that Haas F1’s first protest was “unacceptable” and the penalty decision “was declared null and void”.

“BWT Alpine F1 would like to thank the FIA ​​stewards for meeting and making a positive decision regarding the #14 car that took part in the US Grand Prix last weekend.

The team applauds the decision to return car #14 in seventh place and six points in the race. We look forward to continuing our partnership with the FIA ​​to ensure the highest quality racing experience.

The team is now looking forward to competing in this weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix,” Alpine said in a statement.