Fernando Alonso wins FIA appeal after having Saudi GP podium stolen

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Fernando Alonso has now regained the 100th podium of his career after a dramatic ending to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix with Aston Martin winning their appeal to the FIA. The Spaniard drove exceptionally once again to finish as best-of-the-rest behind both Red Bull drivers at the Jeddah circuit.

He already had a five-second penalty he served during the race for being out of position in his starting box on the grid. Alonso brushed off the setback to finish ahead of both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton and claim his second podium of the season.

But while Alonso was still celebrating on the podium, it was announced that Alonso was under investigation for not serving his five-second penalty earlier in the race correctly. Replays soon appeared to show the mechanic on his rear jack touching the car before it was allowed to be worked on.

The decision was then made by the FIA that the five-second penalty had not been correctly served and Alonso was handed his second time penalty of the race. This proved even more costly as it ended up promoting Russell up to third and forcing Alonso to give up his podium finish.

The Mercedes driver clearly felt for Alonso after the FIA’s decision, stating: “I think the penalty for Fernando is pretty harsh. They are deserving of a podium finish today, but I’ll take an extra trophy.”

And Aston Martin wanted to show their support for their driver by immediately lodging an appeal to overturn the 10-second penalty. Alonso then appeared to confirm that they won the appeal before an official announcement from the FIA with a tweet celebrating his 100th podium.

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