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At the start of the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, it was confirmed that Fernando Alonso was not quite within his grid slot for the race start procedure.

Because of this, the Aston Martin driver was given a five-second penalty, the same punishment that Esteban Ocon was given in Bahrain for the same offence.

Also similar to Ocon, Alonso was further penalised to failing to correctly serve his penalty during a pit stop, with the FIA deciding that Aston Martin’s mechanics had breached the rules by touching the AMR23 with the rear jack during the five seconds.

Alonso served his penalty on the 19th lap of the race and was allowed to complete the race and take part in the podium celebrations before the FIA decided that he did not serve it correctly.

READ: Sergio Perez robbed of championship lead by Max Verstappen

F1 pundit Simon Lazenby has now criticised the FIA for taking so long to make this decision, with the footage of the pit stop being available for analysis for over an hour before they decided to penalise Alonso.

“Surely there was time to review the replay and apply the penalty before the podium,” he tweeted.

To make matters worse, hours after Alonso was stripped of his podium trophy, he was rewarded his P3 finish.

The FIA decided to reinstate the original classification, meaning that George Russell took the third-place trophy off on Alonso, only to be forced to give it back hours later.

This decision confused fans, as Ocon’s penalty in Bahrain stood after his mechanics were deemed to have touched the A523 slightly too early while the Frenchman was serving his penalty.

Max #Verstappen has awkward moment with Sergio #Perez after ignoring team orders https://t.co/d6KroBMLMc

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 19, 2023

READ: Toto Wolff reveals new signing will ‘take over’ some of James Vowles’ responsibilities

Formula 1 have announced that the FIA will be clarifying the rules surrounding serving penalties ahead of the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time, hopefully to prevent this drama from becoming a weekly occurrence.

With Alonso’s penalty being rescinded, the Spaniard now officially has his 100th podium in F1 and his second in as many races for Aston Martin.

With two podium finishes for Aston Martin already this season, the team can begin to dream of the runner up spot in the constructors’ championship as they continue to defy expectations. 

The post FIA criticised for Fernando Alonso penalty fiasco appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Ex-Formula 1 driver turned pundit Martin Brundle has admitted that “it’s jaw drop and eyes roll time” at Ferrari, with the Italians looking set to have yet another season full of reliability issues.

2022 was a massively wasted year for Ferrari, with the Maranello-based team having arguably had the best car, but the worst reliability.

As a result, Charles Leclerc retired from two races whilst leading, due to an engine failure.

Carlos Sainz too suffered several power unit-based issues, resulting in himself and Leclerc taking multiple grid penalties throughout the season due to needing new engine components outside the legal limit.

READ: ‘Do I miss Daniel?’: Lando Norris makes Ricciardo admission ahead of Saudi GP

After identifying their engine’s reliability as a weak point, Ferrari reportedly worked tirelessly throughout the winter break to solve the issues with their engine and most importantly, fix them.

It was believed that they’d done exactly that, with Italian media having speculated that Ferrari had discovered an additional 30hp as a result of fixing their engine.

The season-opening Bahrain Grand Prix, though, painted a very different picture.

Ferrari’s reliability in Bahrain was somehow worse than last season, with Leclerc having gotten through two sets of control electronics.

Staggeringly, Ferrari suffered an issue with both sets of control electronics, with the Monegasque having retired from third place following an engine failure.

If that wasn’t bad enough, the Italians have been forced into fitting a third set of control electronics to the 25-year-old’s car, meaning Leclerc has been slapped with a 10-place grid penalty this weekend at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Each driver can only use two sets of control electronics throughout the season, with Leclerc now set to be slapped with several penalties once again throughout the season.

Brundle can’t believe that Ferrari “burned” both of Leclerc’s legal sets of control electronics, with the pundit admitting that Ferrari “obviously” have some issues to solve.

“The reliability – Leclerc taking a 10-place grid drop here, it’s jaw drop and eyes roll time,” Brundle told Sky Sports.

“Already? It seems incredible that they’ve burned through two control units.

#Haas break silence on accusations of breaching US sanctions https://t.co/7JAU97P7Xn

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 17, 2023

READ: Max Verstappen sings George Russell’s praise as he targets Lewis Hamilton defeat

“There are obviously some issues there to be sorted out and reliability is everything.

“Teams, you’d imagine, have got that sort of thing aced by now, so that’s a shocker.

“I think the Ferrari will look better here than in Bahrain.”

The post Martin Brundle shocked by Ferrari’s reliability appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Fernando Alonso finished a strong third in the season opener at Sakhir, albeit helped by the retirement of Charles Leclerc.
Last weekend, Leclerc outqualified Alonso, but the Ferrari driver dropped back on the grid due to a penalty.
But in the race, Aston Martin showed much better pace than the Maranello cars and Alonso earned third on merit, with only the two Red Bulls ahead.
"I think ...Keep reading

The 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix was full of drama for Fernando Alonso, who was eventually awarded the 100th podium of his career.

The Spaniard shot out of his P2 grid slot to lead the race into Turn 1, overtaking the slow starting Sergio Perez.

The Red Bulls were on a different level once again however and both Perez and his teammate Max Verstappen eventually managed to pass the 41-year-old, leaving Alonso in third place.

After the podium ceremony, Alonso was awarded a ten-second penalty for failing to serve a penalty correctly during the race, which he was awarded for starting slightly to the side of his grid slot.

READ: Michael Schumacher would’ve prevented Mick’s Haas mistreatment

It was deemed that one of Aston Martin’s mechanics had touched the AMR23 too early, similar to what happened in Bahrain with Esteban Ocon.

Only hours after Alonso’s podium was given to George Russell, the FIA reversed their decision and decided to give the podium back to the Spaniard.

Alonso is very up to date with his understanding of memes and social media trends and used this to his full advantage following the drama.

The 41-year-old posted a photo of a well-known meme template, with one man saying “I am sad” while he says “you were.”

The decision to award Alonso with a penalty after the race was controversial enough so to then take it away again caused a massive stir in the F1 community.

Esteban Ocon’s penalty stood in Bahrain, leaving fans confused as to what the actual rules are when it comes to serving penalties during pit stops.

Formula 1 have now announced that the FIA will be released a rule clarification prior to the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks’ time, hopefully putting these controversial penalties to bed.

Fernando #Alonso demands trophy back from George #Russell while mocking him https://t.co/lEBtCbyjeY

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 20, 2023

READ: Sebastian Vettel becomes lead investor in performance drink brand

With the larger wheels that came in this new era of F1, it is very difficult to see the floor around you when lining up a car at the start of a race, making it understandable that two drivers in two races have been found out of their grid slot.

Even George Russell admitted that the penalties were harsh, even though they would have seen him score his first podium of the season if they were upheld.

With clarity to come, drivers will hopefully not be penalised for these small details on a regular basis from now on.

The post Fernando Alonso mocks FIA after Saudi GP penalty drama appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Netflix has announced Brazilian actor Gabriel Leone will play the role of Ayrton Senna in its upcoming dramatisation of his life.

Can't believe I forgot Finisher's. That place is amazing. So much selection in reference books, resin kits, detail parts and decals.
Plaza Japan is online only.

Statistics: Posted by whatisdeletrazdoing — Tue Mar 21, 2023 10:18 am

Sold

Statistics: Posted by viromama — Tue Mar 21, 2023 9:28 am

Red Bull cruised the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix to pick up their second one-two finish in as many races.

Sergio Perez sped away from pole after a short battle with Fernando Alonso, while Max Verstappen recovered from his P15 start to finish second.

The title battle this season seems to be between the two Red Bull drivers and with that in mind, they will both be looking to secure as many points as possible every race weekend.

Towards the end of the race in Jeddah, both drivers were told to target a slower lap time to manage issues with their cars and with Perez holding the fastest lap of the race, he seemed certain to secure the extra championship point.

READ: Developer of viral app admits they could face Formula 1 lawsuit

Verstappen asked his team over the radio what the fastest lap so far was and despite being told not to worry about it, the Dutchman blitzed the final lap of the race to snatch the extra point away from his teammate.

Perez was understandably annoyed about losing the extra point and has now told Mexican news outlet El Capitalino that he will be looking to hold discussions with Red Bull about the incident.

“They told me that the fastest lap belonged to me and to keep up the pace, then I found out that Max took it away from us. We will have to discuss that with the team to clarify things,” he said.

Overall, Perez was over the moon to pick up the fifth win of his career, with the 33-year-old especially glad that the safety car did not ruin the second race in a row in Jeddah for him.

Fernando #Alonso demands trophy back from George #Russell while mocking him https://t.co/lEBtCbyjeY

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 20, 2023

READ: Michael Schumacher would’ve prevented Mick’s Haas mistreatment

“It was a little harder than I expected, the safety car tried to get the victory in Jeddah, but the team did a great job and they worked to hard on the weekend,” he said.

Perez will travel to Australia in two weeks’ time only a point behind Verstappen, meaning that a title race between the two may well happen.

With no other cars in sight, Perez will not be asked to play the wingman role this season, giving him a genuine chance at winning the first championship of his career.

The post Sergio Perez demands Red Bull explanation after Max Verstappen incident appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

Mercedes is making faster progress in developing its car having accepted it needed a change of concept, says team principal Toto Wolff.

In both cases, the drivers were deemed to have placed their cars too far to one side of their grid boxes at the start, and both subsequently received penalties.
The decisions by the stewards were based on an addition to the International Sporting Code that was introduced for 2022, which says that a car "must be stationary at its allocated grid box with no part of the contact patch of its front ...Keep reading

Yuki Tsunoda said AlphaTauri was losing out to its rivals in the straights and corners in Jeddah after narrowly missing a points finish for the second race in a row.

New Ferrari team principal Frederic Vasseur has dismissed suggestions that he is already unhappy at Maranello, following reports that the Frenchman’s “resources” are being restricted by CEO Benedetto Vigna.

2023 certainly hasn’t started well for Ferrari, with Charles Leclerc having retired from third following yet another power unit failure, whilst Carlos Sainz had no choice but to settle for fourth due to very high tyre degradation.

It’s not just on-track where Ferrari have problems to solve, with a number of senior figures mulling over their future at the Italians, due to Vigna’s management style.

Former head of vehicle concept has already departed Maranello for another team, with race director Laurent Mekies also reportedly considering his options.

READ: Max Verstappen warned about major threat in Saudi Arabia

Vigna has certainly ruffled a few feathers amongst the Scuderia, with him having increased his presence amongst the team following the departure of former boss Mattia Binotto.

It’s been reported that Vigna has taken on some of Binotto’s former roles instead of Vasseur, leading to suggestions that the Frenchman has already clashed with his boss.

Vasseur, though, has rejected any suggestions that he’s unhappy with Vigna, and that he actually has more “decision-making power” than he’s ever had before.

“I have resources and decision-making power that I have never had anywhere else,” Vasseur insisted to France’s Auto Hebdo.

Vasseur will be keen to turnaround side’s poor start to the season quickly, with Leclerc having since revealed that Ferrari’s disappointing pace in Bahrain wasn’t a shock following pre-season testing.

“We were not surprised that this happened after the test days,” Leclerc told France’s CANAL+, “but it was still painful to compare ourselves to Red Bull.”

With this weekend’s race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit expected to be a one-stopper, it could cause issues for Ferrari if they can’t find a set-up that improves their tyre wear.

Ex-F1 driver Ralf Schumacher was shocked at Ferrari’s tyre degradation in Bahrain and can’t believe they made “such a big mistake”.

Cristiano #Ronaldo to be forced to attend 2023 Saudi Grand Prix https://t.co/DvOWCYRcn1

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 14, 2023

READ: Lewis Hamilton and Charles Leclerc to swap teams in 2024

The brother of Ferrari legend Michael Schumacher has warned the Scuderia to quickly solve their problems, with the German already sensing that the side have “gotten worse rather than better”.

“I don’t know how you can make such a big mistake like that,” Schumacher told formel1.de, referring to tyre wear.

“They really need to sort that out, because the problem was there last year and I feel like it’s gotten worse rather than better.”

The post Frederic Vasseur hits out at Ferrari rumours appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

The 15-car grid for the new all-women F1 Academy series is complete as W Series race-winner Marta Garcia has joined Prema.

Ferrari arrived at the start of the season in Bahrain having missed its mark, with Charles Leclerc retiring and Sainz struggling to keep up with Aston Martin, "cooking" his tyres in the process as he lost out on a podium.
Ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, team boss Fred Vasseur maintained that Ferrari's main issue in Bahrain was a lack of pace rather than a return of its poor tyre ...Keep reading

Hi all,

Now I list the kits from my first post that are for sale per today (not too many remaining) with actualized prices, as following:

-.Revell 07342 Ferrari / Pininfarina Mythos = 13 EUR

- Revell 07090 Ferrari 599 SA Aperta (2 pcs for sale!) = 18 EUR per each

- Hasegawa 25009 Toyota Celica Turbo 4WD 1992 Tour de Corse incl. extra decals Armin Schwarz version = 35 EUR

- Fujimi Ferrari F430 Challenge = 27 EUR

Statistics: Posted by Quattro-King — Tue Mar 21, 2023 7:10 am

Ex-Formula 1 driver Martin Brundle has praised Sergio Pérez for having “matched” anything reigning world champion Max Verstappen tried to throw at him, with the Mexican having claimed his first victory of the 2023 F1 season at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Pérez’s victory from pole position has certainly raised the interest in the championship this season, with the Mexican’s victory having been the first where his team-mate has finished second.

Checo was comfortable and clinical out in front, with his pace having been virtually identical to Verstappen’s all race.

Whilst Sunday’s Saudi Arabian GP was by no means a thriller, Verstappen’s driveshaft failure in qualifying certainly added some excitement to the second round of the season.

READ: Saudi Arabia shows off stunning Formula 1 theme tune

The Dutchman had been the quickest driver all weekend prior to qualifying, with many having tipped the 25-year-old to claim another easy victory.

Brundle admits that he was “quietly pleased” when Verstappen suffered his driveshaft failure, given that he was going to have to get his elbows out due to starting in 15th.

“I have to be honest and say that when Max Verstappen had a driveshaft problem in qualifying meaning that he would start 15th on the grid, I was quietly pleased, relieved, and energised,” Brundle wrote in his Sky Sports column.

“Nothing against Max and his incredible talent, but at least we would have something to look forward to on race day.”

Verstappen breezed through the field and found himself in second place by the halfway mark; however, he simply couldn’t produce the pace to catch and overtake his team-mate.

The Dutchman was clearly not happy after the race and called for his team to sort out their reliability problems, given that he potentially lost a victory and a more comfortable lead in the championship as a result.

Verstappen remains in the lead of the standings by just one-point from Pérez, due to having set the fastest lap on the final lap of the race.

This “clearly annoyed” his team-mate, especially as Red Bull told both drivers that the fastest lap wasn’t a concern in the closing stages of the race.

“Perez out front matched whatever his team-mate Verstappen could muster speed-wise and duly won the race in fine style,” added Brundle.

Max #Verstappen unhappy with Red Bull as battle with Sergio #Perez hots up https://t.co/iWNT2MtpHE

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 21, 2023

READ: Ex-F1 champion claims Alpine will ‘suffer a big loss’ from Fernando Alonso

“His fifth victory, four of which have been on street circuits – but more significantly his first victory when Max was second.

“Verstappen stole the fastest lap championship point on the final tour and that clearly annoyed Perez, who was surprised the team didn’t call off the fight when they had a one-two easily in the bag and he was suffering with a longer brake pedal, and unbeknown to him, Max was feeling a vibration in his transmission.

“Team Verstappen were perhaps surprised that Perez could match their pace, and they were no doubt annoyed that it was ultimately the qualifying car issue which prevented Max setting a new record of 16 victories in 21 races.”

The post Martin Brundle admits he was happy to see Max Verstappen start from P15 appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

The seven-time world champion has had a difficult start to the campaign, with Mercedes not delivering the step forward it hoped to be able to challenge Red Bull this year.
However, his situation has been further hampered by the fact that he does not appear as settled with the handling of the W14 as team-mate George Russell.
While he thinks his situation could be helped by the team bringing ...Keep reading

At the age of 41, Fernando Alonso is continuing to defy expectations and with the Spaniard at the start of a two-year deal with Aston Martin, he will continue to do so for the foreseeable future.

Frustrated by the number of times he was forced to retire from races due to engine issues last season, Alonso controversially decided to sign for Aston Martin over the summer break.

The Spaniard was on the verge of extending his contract with Alpine but Sebastian Vettel’s shock retirement presented Alonso with an opportunity at Aston Martin that he could not turn down.

Whilst the move looked strange at the time, with Aston Martin sitting in seventh in the championship, Alonso’s decision already looks to have paid off.

READ: Damon Hill makes surprising Adrian Newey RB19 revelation

Using the knowledge of staff members such as former Red Bull head of aerodynamics Dan Fallows, Aston Martin have created an AMR23 that was the second fastest car on the grid in Bahrain.

Stunningly, Fernando Alonso scored the 99th podium of his career on his Aston Martin debut and this has prompted F1 legend Jacques Villeneuve to claim that Alpine will suffer from Alonso’s departure.

“We knew he was in the game in the testing in Bahrain, but he was really impressive in his overtaking. At 41, age definitely matters,” said the 1997 F1 champion.

“If you get to the point where you no longer have that desire and that will to take risks, you might as well quit. But Alonso has demonstrated that he is as hungry as he was 20 years ago.

“It’s a big catch for Aston Martin. Alpine will suffer from his loss.”

AlphaTauri tell Yuki Tsunoda to stop ‘shouting in the radio’ https://t.co/64jeVDcg0N

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 16, 2023

READ: Helmut Marko fires serious AlphaTauri warning ahead of 2023 Saudi Arabian GP

Alpine have done their best to replace Alonso and brought in Pierre Gasly from AlphaTauri over the winter break, being able to pry the Frenchman away from the Red Bull system.

Gasly’s Alpine career has started strongly, with the 27-year-old recovering from his P20 start to finish in P9 in Bahrain, scoring two points for his new team.

With Ferrari and Mercedes struggling so far this season, Aston Martin will have the runners up spot in the championship firmly in their sights this season.

The post Ex-F1 champion claims Alpine will ‘suffer a big loss’ from Fernando Alonso appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.

A driveshaft failure in Q2 meant Verstappen had to start the race from 15th place.
He used Red Bull's impressive pace advantage to finish second behind team-mate Sergio Perez, beating the Mexican to the point for the fastest lap to lead the 2023 drivers' championship by a single point.
But while Verstappen limited the damage and retained his championship lead, he was still unhappy at losing ...Keep reading

Reigning world champion Max Verstappen was clearly “not happy” to have claimed second at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, despite the fact the Dutchman recovered from 15th on the grid following a sudden driveshaft failure during qualifying.

The Red Bull driver’s mood was evident once the race had concluded, with 2016 world champion Nico Rosberg having admitted that Verstappen’s attitude was “not good to see”.

Verstappen drove superbly throughout the race and breezed through the field, to the point where he found himself in second by the halfway point of the race.

Team-mate Sergio Pérez was simply too fast for the Dutchman, though, with the gap having remained between five and six seconds from the moment Verstappen moved into P2.

READ: Developer of viral app admits they could face Formula 1 lawsuit

Verstappen also went against Red Bull’s wishes on the final lap by opting to set the fastest lap, something he’d been told by the team wasn’t something to be concerned about.

By setting the fastest lap, Verstappen remains in the lead of the championship by one point.

Pérez had held the fastest lap until Verstappen defied Red Bull, something which resulted in an awkward conversation between the duo in the cooldown room.

Verstappen’s displeasure at finishing second boiled over into his interviews after the race, where he called for Red Bull to “do better” and make both cars “reliable”.

“I recovered to second which is good and in general the whole feeling in the team is happy,” Verstappen said after the race, as reported by Sky Sports F1.

“But personally I am not happy. I am not here to be second, especially when you are working very hard back at the factory to come here in a good state and making sure everything is spot on.

“When you are fighting for a championship and it looks like it is just between two cars [Verstappen and Perez] you have to make sure the two cars are reliable. We have to do better, absolutely – a cleaner weekend would be nice.

“We are allowed to race so the best man will finish in front.”

Michael #Schumacher would’ve prevented Mick’s Haas mistreatment https://t.co/CaBfGPYAyC

— Formula1News.co.uk (@Formula1newsUK) March 20, 2023

READ: Eddie Jordan demands rule change after Esteban Ocon nightmare

Rosberg wasn’t a fan of Verstappen’s attitude after the race and revealed that the Dutchman “apparently” refused to attend a team meeting after qualifying, due to his frustration at having suffered a driveshaft failure at a time when he was favourite for pole.

“It is not good to see. We were also told he skipped the team meeting [on Saturday] apparently,” Rosberg told Sky Sports F1.

“I don’t think it’s a good approach or mentality so early in the season when the team has done such a brilliant job and worked so hard. I think he could be more gracious.”

The post Max Verstappen unhappy with Red Bull as battle with Sergio Perez hots up appeared first on Formula1News.co.uk.