The 2022 Formula 1 Canadian Grand Prix represented a great opportunity for Fernando Alonso to score plenty of points, and even collect the 99th podium of his career if the stars lined up and his Alpine had the pace to keep up with Max Verstappen and Carlos Sainz Jr.

However, his car was falling as the laps progressed until he was behind his teammate, Esteban Ocon, in the final laps due to a strategy in which he extended the life of his tires to the maximum. This situation, exacerbated by the Asturian’s engine problems, led him to fight until the last meters with the Alfa Romeo of Valtteri Bottas, which he kept at bay after some movements in the straight that the stewards investigated after the race.

Finally, after a member representing the French team and the Spanish driver himself declared what had happened at 4:30 p.m. local time (10:30 p.m. Spanish peninsula time), the FIA ​​decided to sanction the double champion of the world with a penalty of five seconds, he went from seventh to ninth place.

Despite this, the Spaniard retains tenth place in the overall drivers’ classification, ahead of Pierre Gasly, although still far from Ocon, who has 39 points and escapes in his particular fight.

In the statement that the FIA issued, they explained that it was a breach of Article 2 b) of Chapter IV of Appendix L of the International Sporting Regulations, and Alonso added a penalty point to his licence: “The Stewards listened to the driver of car 14 (Fernando Alonso), the driver of car 77 (Valtteri Bottas) and team representatives, reviewed the video and telemetry evidence of car 77”.
“Between turns 10 and 12, on the penultimate lap of the race, car 14 made repeated directional changes to defend against car 77, which had to lift at one point and lost momentum. Although they have taken note of the driver’s argument that at no time was car 77 alongside car 14, the marshals consider this to be a clear breach of said regulations, therefore the Stewards impose a 5 second penalty consistent with that imposed for a similar incident at Australia 2022″.

“Competitors are reminded that they have the right to appeal against certain decisions of the stewards, in accordance with Article 15 of the FIA ​​International Sporting Code and Chapter 4 of the FIA ​​Legal and Disciplinary Regulations, in the applicable deadlines.”

With this, the Spaniard racks up a total of 6 points on your licenseand if he reaches 12 in a year, he will be forced to miss a grand prize as punishment.