Fernando Alonso recently achieved his 100th podium appearance in Formula One (F1) at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, but his celebration was short-lived. He received a 10-second penalty after the race, which pushed him down to P4. F1 TV presenter, Alex Brundle, provided an explanation for the penalty.
Initially, Alonso was given a five-second penalty for being out of position at the start of the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit. However, he managed to make an impressive start and overtake pole-sitter and eventual race winner, Sergio Perez, at Turn 1.
BREAKING: Fernando Alonso is given a 10s penalty for an incorrectly-served penalty, and loses his podium in Jeddah
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 19, 2023
He drops to fourth, with George Russell moving up to third#SaudiArabianGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/PWA3dM3wI4
The real trouble started for Alonso when he had to serve the five-second penalty in the pits during a Safety Car period caused by his teammate, Lance Stroll’s, Aston Martin. In the video, Brundle explains the error that the Aston Martin team made while serving the penalty, which cost Alonso three points and prevented him from becoming the sixth driver in F1 history to achieve 100 podiums