Fernando Alonso, member of the Aston Martin F1 team, has revealed his intention to discuss with the FIA about what he perceives as biased treatment based on nationality when it comes to penalties in Formula 1. Alonso expressed his desire for clarification on the rules involving penalties after his time loss in the China Sprint. The Spanish driver was furious after a collision caused by Lewis Hamilton’s aggressive move at Turn 1 resulted in a punctured tire for Alonso and the elimination of two other drivers. Despite race stewards deeming the incident as a racing incident, Alonso believes he would have been penalized if he had made the same move as Hamilton. Alonso stated: “I had to create distance because Hamilton was coming from the inside without control of the car, so if I had done the same, I would certainly have received a penalty.” Before the stewards cleared Hamilton, Alonso was convinced that his long-time rival would escape punishment because “he is not Spanish.” When asked if he believed nationality influenced the stewards’ decisions, Alonso revealed his intention to address the issue with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. He explained: “I do believe nationality matters, and I will speak with Mohammed, with the FIA, or whoever is necessary to ensure that there is no mistake based on my nationality or anything that could influence any decision, not just for me, but also for future generations of Spanish drivers who need to be protected.”
Alonso had a disappointing qualifying session in Miami, narrowly avoiding elimination in Q1 and finishing as the slowest driver in the second phase. He admitted: “I am a bit disappointed with our performance in qualifying. We ended up 15th in Q1 and Q2, and I didn’t have much pace today.” The team made some adjustments to the car setup since the morning, but didn’t get the expected results, leaving them less competitive than usual. Alonso noted: “With just two tenths of a second, you can be in 8th place or in 15th place. Unfortunately, we found ourselves on the less favorable side of the grid this time, while in the last races we were on the better side. Our 5th place in Japan and our 3rd place in China were completely unexpected.” Alonso acknowledged that it would be a challenging race for him, starting in 15th position, but expressed hope that his teammate, Lance Stroll, starting in 11th, could score some points for the team.
