Alpine’s appeal to overturn Fernando Alonso’s penalty at the U.S. Grand Prix was successful. The double world champion had lost seventh place after stewards upheld a protest from Haas regarding the safety of his car.
Alonso fell out of the points last Sunday in Austin when stewards upheld a post-race Haas protest against him continuing with a loose mirror that eventually fell and posed a danger to someone’s safety.
Alpine protested the admissibility of the Haas protest, and a video hearing was scheduled for Thursday at the Mexican Grand Prix with U.S. stewards to determine whether Alpine’s protest would be considered.
Alpine said in a statement, “BWT Alpine F1 Team thanks the FIA stewards for convening and reaching a positive conclusion on the matter involving Car #14 from last weekend’s United States Grand Prix.”
“The team applauds the judgment reached by the aforementioned stewards, which reinstates Car #14’s seventh-place finish and six race points.
“We look forward to continue our collaborative efforts with the FIA to preserve the greatest level of racing spectacle. The crew is now looking forward to participating this weekend at the Grand Prix of Mexico City.”
Alonso stated on Thursday that he expected his relegation to be reversed and warned that if it was not, the sport would face a “big crisis.”
Alpine stated on Sunday that Haas’ protest was filed 24 minutes too late and so should not have been accepted. (Reporting from Bengaluru by Shrivathsa Sridhar; editing by Stephen Coates)