Formula 1
FERNANDO’S PODIUM HAS BEEN FOUND AND RETURNED!!! CHECO WINS IN JEDDAH! MAX NOT HAPPY WITH RED BULL’ RELIABILITY ISSUES! AND FERRARI HAVE WORK TO DO…
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – MARCH 19: Race winner Sergio Perez of Mexico and Oracle Red Bull Racing celebrates on the podium during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 19, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Lars Baron/Getty Images)
Alonso shrugged off his disappointment on Sunday after having the 100th podium of his remarkable career snatched away at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard was handed a post-race 10-seconds penalty for an infringement during his pit-stop when he was serving a five-second penalty for making an incorrect start.
Beaming with satisfaction with his stirring drive for Aston Martin, he said he was not seriously upset by the decision and felt encouraged by the performance of his car and the team.
“I’m not too upset,” he said. “It was good and it doesn’t hurt much. I was on the podium, I took the pictures, I got the trophy. I celebrated with the champagne. Now I have three points less I don’t have 15, I have 12. I think it’s more of an FIA poor show today more than disappointment for ourselves.
“You can’t apply the penalty 35 laps after the pit-stop. They had enough time to inform us. If I knew about the penalty, I would have had 11 seconds with the car!
“I think we were faster here than in Bahrain and it looks very good for the future.” The 41-year-old two-time champion had taken the lead at the first corner of the 50-lap race, but he was given a five-second penalty for starting from an incorrect position, too far to the left in his grid slot.
Pérez started on pole with Fernando Alonso overtaking him off the start line, only to be handed a five-second penalty which allowed 33-year-old Pérez to take the lead as Verstappen picked off the field to move second behind his colleague just before the halfway point of the race.
Verstappen tried hard to close the gap and recorded the fastest lap on the last lap to bank second place and a one-point lead over Pérez heading to the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on April 2.
JEDDAH, SAUDI ARABIA – MARCH 19: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB19 leads Lewis Hamilton of Great Britain driving the (44) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W14 during the F1 Grand Prix of Saudi Arabia at Jeddah Corniche Circuit on March 19, 2023 in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images)
Pérez said: “It turned out to be tougher than expected. The safety car tried to take the victory out of us again in Jeddah. The team did a fantastic job. They worked so hard and I am really happy for them. We will keep pushing hard and we were the fastest car out there today.”
Verstappen added: “Through the first sector trying to follow at the beginning of the race, it was very difficult, a lot of sliding around but once I cleared them one by one, we got into a good rhythm and very happy to be on the podium. I gave it a go at the end and luckily it worked out.”