Fernando Alonso, a member of the Aston Martin F1 Team, has revealed his intention to hold discussions with the FIA regarding what he perceives as biased treatment based on nationality when it comes to Formula 1 penalties. Alonso expressed his desire for clarification on the rules surrounding penalties following his time drop in the China Sprint. The Spanish driver was left furious after a collision caused by Lewis Hamilton’s aggressive move at Turn 1 resulted in a puncture for Alonso and the elimination of two other drivers. Despite the stewards ruling the incident as a racing incident, Alonso believes he would have been penalized if he had made the same move as Hamilton. Alonso stated, “I have to create distance because Hamilton was approaching from the inside without control of his car, so if I had done the same, I would surely have received a penalty.” Prior to the stewards clearing Hamilton, Alonso was convinced that his long-time rival would escape punishment because “he’s not Spanish.” When asked if he believed nationality played a role in the stewards’ decisions, Alonso disclosed his intention to address the issue with FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem. He explained, “I do believe that nationality matters, and I will speak with Mohammed, with the FIA, or whoever is necessary to ensure that there is no wrongdoing based on my nationality or anything that could influence any decision, not only for me but also for future generations of Spanish drivers who need to be protected.”
Alonso had a disappointing qualifying session in Miami, narrowly avoiding elimination in Q1 and ultimately finishing as the slowest driver in the second stage. He admitted, “I am a little disappointed with our qualifying performance. We placed 15th in Q1 and 15th in Q2, and I didn’t have much pace today.” The team made some adjustments to the car’s setup since the morning, but it did not yield the expected results, leaving them less competitive than usual. Alonso noted, “With just two tenths of a second, you could be in 8th place or 15th place. Unfortunately, we find ourselves on the less favorable side of the grid this time, whereas in the last few races, we were on the better side. Our 5th place finish in Japan and 3rd place finish in China were completely unexpected.” Alonso acknowledged that it would be a challenging race for him, starting from 15th position, but expressed hope that his teammate Lance Stroll, starting from 11th, could score some points for the team.