General
Alonso loses podium: 10-second time penalty places Russell in P3
Fernando Alonso loses his third place in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. The Aston Martin driver has been handed a 10-second time penalty because the rear jack was on the AMR23 when he served his penalty in the race.
Earlier during the race it seemed to be tense whether Alonso would be allowed to take the podium because he had redeemed his five seconds during a safety car situation, something of which it is not clear whether that is allowed according to the regulations. Because he finished five seconds ahead of Russell, a time penalty of that many seconds would not have been a problem.
BREAKING: Fernando Alonso is given a 10s penalty for an incorrectly-served penalty, and loses his podium in Jeddah
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023
He drops to fourth, with George Russell moving up to third#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/PWA3dM3wI4
But now Alonso has received a ten second time penalty, albeit for a different incident. Alonso stood still for five seconds, only the team is allowed to touch the car. This would have happened and so the two-time world champion drops a spot in the final result.
Esteban Ocon also received a ten-second time penalty for this offense two weeks ago in Bahrain, so the stewards had little choice but to take the podium from the experienced hand.
