Fernando Alonso warns F1 over Haas claim

This is what we call gently putting pressure on the commissioners a few hours before an important hearing between Haas, Alpine and race direction of the previous United States Grand Prix. At a press conference in Mexico, Fernando Alonso indeed returned to the thirty-second penalty he received after the Austin race following the complaint made by Haas, the American team having considered that the car of the Spaniard was simply not legal due to the loss of a rear-view mirror in the incident between him and Lance stroll U.S..

Following the complaint made by the American team, the stewards determined that a car must be driven at all times in safe conditions and that this had not been the case for the No. 14 single-seater, which drove many laps with just one mirror.

A hearing at 18 p.m. this Thursday

Despite the precedents of Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc in Japan in 2019, it was considered that these two examples should not be taken as case law. A decision which resulted in a drop in the rankings of the United States Grand Prix for Fernando Alonso, since he fell to 15th position after crossing the line in 7th position. A penalty which directly benefited Haas since Kevin Magnussen taking the opportunity to gain a position (8e).

Since, Alpine decided not to appeal the intrinsic decision, since this is not authorized, but to lodge a complaint regarding the legality of that made by Haas, the French team considering that the complaint should not have been accepted by the commissioners since it was filed 24 minutes after the legal deadline.

As we can see in this photo, Fernando Alonso was missing a retro in Austin. © DPPI

Consequently, the commissioners summoned Alpine and Haas this Thursday at 18 p.m. in Mexico (1 a.m. in France) in order to judge the admissibility of the complaint brought by the French team. In the event of a positive response for arrow A, another separate hearing will then take place, without further details having been provided. All this seems to have inspired Fernando Alonso, who gave his opinion on the matter. “There are several things, slipped the Asturian bull. Firstly the fact that the FIA ​​did not show me the black and orange flag, which means that they considered that my car could be driven safely in these conditions. Then the car went to parc ferme, passed all the scrutineering and received the green light again. And above all, the complaint came too late. This is why there is no doubt, in my opinion, that deeming their request admissible (that of Haas) was not the right decision to make. »

And Fernando Alonso continues. “If it turns out that this was ultimately the right decision, it will become a big problem for the future of the F1. This will mean first of all that 60 or 70% of cars will have to abandon the slightest aero part that is not perfectly attached, since the car will then be considered non-regulatory from a safety point of view. And it will be the same regarding the deadline for filing a complaint. If 20 minutes (24 precisely) late it's not too late, what about a month, an hour, or ten years? We can't afford that. This is an important day for our sport. Austin's 7th place, I don't care, since I'm not fighting for the championship. But believe me, we don’t want to open that box…” The message has gotten through.

THE DEAL IN THREE STEPS: 
> Haas files a claim against Alpine and Red Bull 
> 30-second penalty for Fernando Alonso in Austin
> Alpine disputes Haas' claim against Alonso