Fernando Alonso was investigated by the sports commissioners after detecting that he could have incurred an offense for not respecting the double yellow flags caused by a spin by Max Verstappen. Finally, everything came to nothing.
Although at first the Spanish fans feared the worst, finally Fernando Alonso He retains his fifth starting position for the Turkish Grand Prix, in which the Spanish driver qualified sixth but will advance one position as a result of the penalty imposed on Lewis Hamilton.
According to the sports commissioners, Fernando Alonso could have incurred an infraction by not lifting his foot from the accelerator as he passed through the curve 1 when in this the track marshals waved double yellow flags after a spin by Max Verstappen in Q1. That caused the Alpine pilot to be called to testify, a moment that he took the opportunity to explain what happened.
“The yellow flag occurred at the moment the driver started his first timed lap of the session”
And it is that the stewards had detected that the two-time world champion had scored his best global sets in that round. What they had not been able to see is that said time was the one corresponding to his first timed lap after the pit exit, so that no matter how slowly Alonso had gone, time would always appear on the monitors as the fastest at that moment.
Once explained by the pilot and clarified through video images and telemetry data, the sports commissioners closed the case without imposing any sanction.
Official statement of the FIA
The stewards listened to the driver of car 14 (Fernando Alonso) and saw the video evidence of the team, as well as the timing and representative and revised telemetry.It was evident that the pilot met the requirement to significantly reduce speed after the double yellow flags were displayed and, therefore, it complied with the provisions set forth in art. 2.5.5.b) of the FIA International Sporting Code.
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However, note 7.1 of the race director’s event notes requires drivers not to set lap time in a double yellow flag situation.
Considering the fact that the yellow flag situation occurred at the time the rider started his first timed lap of the session and he was completely convinced that he did not set a significant lap time since his next fastest lap was approximately 3.5 seconds faster than when the yellow flag situation occurred, the stewards consider that the driver complied with the rules and take no other action.