Fernando Alonso crossed the finish line in eighth position, but a pending penalty of five seconds made him go back one more in favor of Esteban Ocon. However, there was still one more that the FIA released hours later.
The Miami night brought him an unpleasant surprise to Fernando Alonso, who after finishing the first Grand Prix in the American city in eighth position, saw how a five-second penalty for hitting Pierre Gasly left him behind his teammate. But there was more.
The truth is that Fernando Alonso has once again experienced a weekend to forget, as he has not been able to transform the potential of the Alpine A522 into a consistent result. First it was a disappointing rating in 11th position after claiming to have been disturbed by Carlos Sainz in Q2.
Then came a race in which things started well, as the Spaniard gained four positions at the start and placed seventh. However, a overtaking attempt on Pierre Gaslyin which he hit the one from AlphaTauri and gained position, led to a five-second penalty for the Spanish.
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the safety car
Despite this, Fernando Alonso’s pace seemed enough to compensate for those five seconds and maintain the position gained on the track, but then came the accident between Sebastian Vettel and Gasly himselfwhich was rolling with the car damaged after the impact received by the Alpine.
That made Alonso’s advantage vanish and, in addition, some drivers gained position by taking advantage of the safety car to change wheels without losing so much time. When the race was restarted, Alpine’s was eighth with used hard tires.
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Based on effort, Alonso managed to get enough margin to lose only one position when crossing the finish line and applying the five-second penalty. Therefore, Esteban Ocon was eighth, Alonso ninth and Alexander Albon tenth only two tenths behind the Spanish.
A scarce loot that of Fernando Alonso, who went home with only two points and being overtaken in the race standings by a teammate who had started the race from the back of the grid.
the chicane
But there was one last surprisea new penalty of five seconds for having gained an advantage outside the track.
It happened during the last few laps, when Alonso was trying to catch up with Valtteri Bottas and fending off Mick Schumacher. In the chicane of the second sector, the one formed by curves 14 and 15, the Spanish he over-braked and took the loophole.
Although Alonso affirms that he raised his foot to ‘give back’ the time gained, recorded the best second sector of the raceso the stewards decided to apply the five-second penalty.
As a result, Fernando Alonso was eventually dropped to 11th position, allowing Alexander Albon will inherit the ninth and Lance Stroll the tenth.. One more weekend without points for the Spaniard, for whom THE PLAN could not do worse at the start of the 2022 season.