Fernando Alonso has been given three five-second time penalties plus penalty points on his licence for cutting the track and gaining an advantage on three separate occasions during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver was found to have cut the track at turns eight and nine a total of three times. The stewards ruled he had “left the track and gaining a lasting advantage” by doing so.He therefore received a total time penalty of 15 seconds, which does not change his finishing position of 11th, and moves onto a total of six penalty points.
Esteban Ocon was also given a penalty point for leaving the track after he overtook Pierre Gasly and staying ahead of him.
“Although the driver of car 31 did not gain a position, he still gained an advantage in that he was able to retain his position in front of car two, when, if he had not gone off the track, he would not have been able to do so.
“It was noted the team was advised by the race director that car 31 could give back its position but this was not possible as further overtaking had occurred,” the stewards added.
Nico Hulkenberg and Romain Grosjean were cleared of blame for the first-lap collision between the pair which put the Renault driver out of the race.
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Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th November 2018, 15:38
LOL, Button also picked up penalty points at his Monaco cameo, didn’t he?
bosyber (@bosyber)
25th November 2018, 16:06
Yep. But less, so even here, Alonso outshines a competitor :)
Markos
25th November 2018, 15:39
Like Alonso gives a f.#& ;-)
Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th November 2018, 15:40
DarkSchneider
25th November 2018, 16:06
But nothing when a driver attacks another pilot and hits his front tire two times in same race ..
Dale
25th November 2018, 16:11
I found it quite entertaining that he chose to cut that corner on the last 3 laps to try catch the Ass cars.
No doubt he will be laughing at the idea of more penalties, when the inconsistency of penalties the last few years was probably a big factor in his decision to leave.
Euro Brun (@eurobrun)
25th November 2018, 22:19
He should only have got 2 penalties (10s), cos the first is a joker according to Charlie.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
26th November 2018, 23:25
Unless he used the joker earlier in the race without this being mentioned in the ruling.
F1 in Figures (@f1infigures)
25th November 2018, 16:21
Strange. Why was Bottas not even investigated for cutting the track at the same place and clearly gaining?
UnitedKingdomRacing (@unitedkingdomracing)
25th November 2018, 16:30
Because it was obvious he slowed right down afterwards until Verstapppen was even closer than before he went off. He did that only after the end of the following straight though.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th November 2018, 16:46
But since when has merely slowing down been acceptable as a mea culpa for cutting the track for gain? It has usually been yield a place or get a penalty.
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
25th November 2018, 16:57
You yield a place if you gain a place or maintain it. Bottas only gained time so he only had to give up time.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th November 2018, 17:24
Could you point me to a similar incident in the past where such an approach was applied?
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
25th November 2018, 18:36
@phylyp The one that comes to my mind is Hamilton at the start of Mexico City two years ago.
Doesn’t mean I agree with it, though. You may as well cut the corner every lap if you’re defending, and then back off where passing is not possible to “give back the time”.
Phylyp (@phylyp)
25th November 2018, 18:46
Thank you @markzastrow. That said, I’m not going to discuss that incident again :-)
And yes, I agree with you, the quantum of time gained and given back can differ, as can the place they are done, as you rightly point out.
Mark Zastrow (@markzastrow)
25th November 2018, 20:07
@phylyp Ha, I think we’ll all agree with you there!
RetardedF1sh (@retardedf1sh)
25th November 2018, 21:56
@markzastrow @phylyp Bottas wasn’t defending from Verstappen though, he just locked up on his own. If he was, then he would have to give up the position of course
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
26th November 2018, 23:24
The “joker” system sometimes (not consistently) allows drivers to gain/retain time (never places) once in a race without penalty. A second time is supposed to invariably result in a penalty unless there’s justification.
Jere (@jerejj)
25th November 2018, 16:21
A bit like in Suzuka.
BTW: ”Esteban Ocon was also given a penalty point for leaving the track after he overtook Pierre Gasly and staying ahead of him.” – Vandoorne actually, not Gasly.
Chaitanya
25th November 2018, 16:45
Like those points make a difference, even if Alonso makes a return for 2020 season those points will be scrubbed off and he will have a clean slate.
David BR (@david-br)
25th November 2018, 17:27
Give him some slack FIA, he’s practicing for the 2019 Mario Kart championships.
Coanda (@ming-mong)
25th November 2018, 17:28
At the end he should have melted those tyres until they popped off the rim SUMMERNATS style!
Rhys Lloyd (@justrhysism)
27th November 2018, 3:28
They still weigh the cars after the race. The reduced rubber would risk putting them under-weight.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
3rd December 2018, 16:18
He had scored no points anyway. doubt the team’d cared, and Alonso certianly wouldn’t have
joe jopling (@jop452)
25th November 2018, 17:30
The stewards not know he is not racing F1 next year???….and actually the inconsistency of the stewards is appalling…and not just today
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
26th November 2018, 23:22
@jop452 They do know, but since 2008 have been required to issue penalties with reference to what other drivers got in previous races in the same season. They can’t knowingly overlook or alter the penalty just because issuing the precedented penalty makes them look silly.
Dutchguy (@justarandomdutchguy)
25th November 2018, 18:34
Most useful penalty since Button’s 2017 grid penalty….
rpaco
25th November 2018, 20:38
3 Penalty points means a 10 place grid penalty at the next race (if there is one) and so a penalty point is grossly disproportionate to a 5 second penalty. It is in fact more like 20 or 30seconds per point.
John
25th November 2018, 20:53
I think he was trying to jerk the FIA’s chain a bit concerning their inconsistent penalties.
I liked it.
MaliceCooper
25th November 2018, 20:56
Are the points on licence only applicable to F1, or do they carry over to other FIA-sanctioned events? I guess you could still compete in other classes even if you lost your super licence, so it wouldn’t make much difference.
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
26th November 2018, 23:21
F1 only. Sportscar series, as a general rule, don’t even take each other’s penalties into accounts unless a licence suspension is involved. There may be a few jokes about it in the paddock when Fernando shows up in Daytona, though.
F_Alonso
26th November 2018, 20:49
What a joke!
Alianora La Canta (@alianora-la-canta)
26th November 2018, 23:19
Fernando Alonso gets a 15-second time penalty for not caring.
I doubt he’ll care about that ;)
JMDan (@danmar)
29th November 2018, 5:08
I’ll miss his irreverence. A unique sense of humour. For an F1 driver anyway.