Fernando Alonso happy to be reinstated to podium after Saudi GP penalty review

Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso had a rollercoaster weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. He had a stellar weekend and took the 100th Formula 1 podium of his career before being demoted to 4th place after a penalty. Then, hours later, he was given the place back and is now officially confirmed to have taken third place behind the two Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen.

Dream start turned sour

Alonso qualified in third place behind Perez and Ferrari driver Charles Leclerc but was gifted a front row position when the Monegasque took a 10-place grid penalty for an engine change. With Perez within striking distance at the start of the opening lap, Alonso made the mistake of putting his car out of position on the grid in what could either be an honest mistake or an attempt to get an advantage.

Eagle-eyed stewards handed him a 5-second penalty due to the offence, which he calmly accepted after he managed to pinch Perez off the line to take the lead from the first corner. The Spaniard led the race for a few laps before it became clear the the sheer pace advantage of the Red Bull was impossible to beat. Perez quickly took the lead back before the first round of pit stops. However, Alonso was happy to see that he was comfortably able to create a gap from the Mercedes of George Russell in third place.

First penalty served under the safety car

Alonso managed the gap to Russell in order to ensure that he would stay ahead even if he had to stay stationary in the pit lane for five seconds before Aston Martin mechanics can work on his car.

Just when the pit window opened, the Safety Car was brought out when the second Aston Martin of Lance Stroll was forced to stop in the middle of a lap. Alonso took the opportunity to dive into the pits to serve his 5-second penalty and still emerge in front of Russell.

Once the race resumed, the penalty had been served and it was race on. No one else could catch Alonso except for the flying Max Verstappen. The reigning world champion started the race down in 15th place but his unbelievable pace allowed him to effortlessly pass every single car on the track save for his teammate.

Perez and Verstappen sealed a Red Bull 1-2, with Alonso picking up the final podium position.

Penalty confusion after the race

Even before the race ended, team radio conversations between Alonso, Russell and their respective engineers made it clear that the stewards were investigating the two-time world champion's pit stop and he is under suspicion of having served his initial 5-second penalty incorrectly.

Russell fought to get the gap to below five seconds without success, but he was briefly handed third place anyway when the stewards gave Alonso a retroactive 10-second time penalty.

At that time, officials ruled that the rear jack had made contact with Alonso's AMR23 before the five-second penalty had been served during his first pit stop. Alonso dropped to 4th place, which he took in stride. "It doesn't hurt much, to be honest. I was on the podium, I did the pictures, I took the trophy, I celebrated with the champagne. Now I have apparently three points less; I don't have 15, I have 12," he said.

Bizarrely, the stewards overturned their decision once more after another review requested by Aston Martin. According to a statement, the stewards said: "There was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the Stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car... In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly."

Alonso was ready to accept fourth place, but he was even more delighted to learn that he could keep his podium position. That makes him only the sixth driver to secure 100 podiums in F1 history behind Lewis Hamilton, Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Vettel, Alain Prost and Kimi Raikkonen.

The 42-year-old also expressed his delight at being able to show that Aston Martin could very well be the second fastest car on the grid this season after he was able to stay ahead of the Ferrari and Mercedes cars with relative ease.

"We showed that we can be the second fastest team and we had good pace throughout the race," he said, also admitting that "It was my mistake at the start with the position on the grid, but we pushed to make up that time."

After the first two races of the season, the Red Bulls have shown blistering pace that can't be matched by anyone else on the grid. Aston Martin are clearly fast but Lance Stroll needs to finish closer to Alonso if they want to claim second in the championship. The battle between the Ferrari and Mercedes cars is tight, but they seem to be pulling away from the rest of the midfield pack.