FIA clarify rules around time penalties after Alonso's debacle in Jeddah

Following the debacle in Saudi Arabia, the FIA has now given clarity to F1 teams on serving time penalties in the pit lane. This should ensure that a situation like the one with Fernando Alonso in Jeddah cannot happen again.

After the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix, Alonso's time penalty was a key talking point. According to the FIA, the Spaniard's penalty was not properly served because the car had been touched with the jack. However, Aston Martin got the podium spot back when they could show footage in which this had been the case more often, but no penalty had been handed out at the time.

Prior to the Australian Grand Prix, the FIA made it clear to teams that from now on it is an offence if the car is touched by a jack. The FIA sees this as 'working on the car' during the penalty and is therefore prohibited. The fans that teams use to cool the car are allowed to be used as along as the fan doesn't touch the car.

The FIA made further adjustments ahead of this weekend, as it was previously revealed that the starting places will be wider from now on. As a result, a penalty for standing in the wrong place in the starting grid is likely to be a thing of the past.