Breaking! Fernando Alonso reinstated to P3 in the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian GP

The 10-second penalty imposed upon Fernando Alonso which took away his podium placement at the 2023 F1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix has reportedly been overturned. This means that his original P3 result has been reinstated.

It also means that the Spaniard has officially clinched his 100th F1 podium finish. Alonso was previously given a five-second penalty during the race for having taken an incorrect starting position on the grid.

However, the two-time world champion managed to make it back to the front and crossed the checkered flag behind the two Red Bulls. It was after the podium celebrations that news came of another 10-second penalty being handed to the Spaniard for not serving the first penalty correctly.

The reason given was that the car was supposedly 'touched by the rear jack' during the pit stop when the penalty was meant to be served.

As reported by PlanetF1, the FIA confirmed that Aston Martin 'held a right of review hearing' in Jeddah, after which Fernando Alonso's podium was reinstated.

As reported by F1.com, the official statement read:

"In support of the Petition for Review, the Stewards were shown minutes of the latest SAC meeting and video evidence of 7 different instances where cars were touched by the jack while serving a similar penalty to the one imposed on Car 14 without being penalized....

"The clear submission by the Team was that the alleged representation of an agreement between the FIA and the teams that touching the car in any way, including with a jack, would constitute 'working' on the car for the purposes of Article 54.4 (c) of the Sporting Regulations, was incorrect and therefore the basis of the Stewards' decision was wrong....

"Having reviewed the video evidence presented and having heard from the Team representative of Aston Martin and the relevant members from the FIA, the Stewards determined that there did exist significant and relevant new evidence as required under Article 14.1.1 to trigger a review of the decision, in particular the video evidence and the verbal evidence from the Team and from the FIA. It was clear to us that the substratum of the original decision, namely the representation of there being an agreement, was called into question by the new evidence...

"Having reviewed the new evidence, we concluded that there was no clear agreement, as was suggested to the Stewards previously, that could be relied upon to determine that parties had agreed that a jack touching a car would amount to working on the car...

"In the circumstances, we considered that our original decision to impose a penalty on Car 14 needed to be reversed and we did so accordingly."

Fernando Alonso was "disappointed" by the way the penalty was handled by the stewards

It was confirmed very late that Fernando Alonso would be handed a 10-second penalty. The stewards arguably had plenty of time during the course of the race to make this decision. The Spaniard was certainly unhappy with the way the matter was handled during the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1, Alonso said:

"It doesn't hurt too much to be honest. I was on the podium, I did pictures, I took the trophy, I celebrated and now I have apparently three points less. I don't have 15, I have 12. I think it is more FIA, poor show today, more than disappointment from ourselves.

"You cannot apply a penalty 35 laps after the pit stop. They had enough time to inform about the penalty. If I knew that, maybe then I open up 11 seconds to the car behind."

This was Fernando Alonso's second-consecutive podium finish of the season, as he remains the only driver outside of Red Bull to stand on the podium in 2023.