FERNANDO ALONSO is on collision course with the FIA as Formule One prepares for another row with the race stewards.
The Spaniard was launched into the air at 200mph during Sunday’s race following a dangerous move from Lance Stroll.
Amazingly, Alonso carried on racing to come home in seventh place, despite suffering excruciating back pain as a result of the shunt.
However, following a post-race protest from the Haas team, the two-time world champion was slapped with a whopping 30-second time penalty that dropped him down to 15th.
Haas argued that Alonso’s car was in an unsafe condition as its right-hand wing mirror became loose and fell off following his collision.
Alonso’s Alpine team have now launched an appeal which will be heard this week ahead of the Mexican Grand Prix.
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He wrote on Instagram: “Thanks for all the messages I received yesterday and today.
“It’s one of those rare times in sport that I feel we are all on the same page and share the same opinion towards the rules and regulations.
“Therefore Thursday is an important day for the sport that we love so much, as the decision will dictate if we are going in the right direction for the future. Thanks again for all your support.”
Alpine criticised the decision and are also expected to argue that Haas’ submission came too late.
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A statement said: “BWT Alpine F1 Team is disappointed to receive a post-race time penalty for Car No14 from the United States Grand Prix, which unfortunately means Fernando moves to outside the points positions.
“The team acted fairly and deemed the car remained structurally safe as a result of Fernando’s incident with Lance Stroll on lap 22 of the race with the right-side rear view wing mirror detaching from the chassis as a result of accident damage caused by Stroll.
“The FIA has the right to black and orange flag a car during the race if they consider it unsafe and, on this occasion, they assessed the car and decided not to action the flag.
“Moreover, after the race, the FIA technical delegate considered the car legal.
“The team also believes due to the protest being lodged 24 minutes past the specified deadline, it should not have been accepted and therefore the penalty should be considered as invalid.
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“As a result of this point, the team has protested the admissibility of the original Haas F1 Team protest.”
The row comes after a succession of blunders and delays from the FIA while Red Bull are at loggerheads with the governing body over their cost cap row.
Source: Motorsport - thesun.co.uk
