BREAKING: George Russell bags Mercedes' first podium of the F1 season after Fernando Alonso gets a 10s penalty

Fernando Alonso was given a 10-second time penalty after the race in Jeddah ended for not serving his previous time penalty during the 18th lap of the race.

Since Alonso qualified P3 and started the race P2, it was quite obvious that he would be battling for victory, or the podium in the worst-case scenario, which he did. Even after leading the race for the initial few laps, things turned different for him as a 5-second time penalty was announced (to be served during his first pit stop).

After a safety car was deployed, Fernando Alonso was one of the drivers to make a cheap pit stop and serve his time penalty, allowing him to keep his 2nd place in the race intact. After closely battling with the Red Bulls, he seemed to settle for a P3 finish, which he did.

However, the Aston Martin team warned him that he might be awarded a 5-second time penalty, so he built up a 5.1-second gap from George Russell on P4 by the final lap.

The podium celebration marked Fernando Alonso's 100th podium, however, it was soon announced that he had failed to serve his previous time penalty correctly (during the race) and hence, in a shock, was given a 10-second time penalty. This made him lose his podium to George Russell, making it Mercedes' first top 3 finish of the season.

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How are the standings affected after Fernando Alonso's podium loss?

Fernando Alonso has been the talk of the season so far as he battled ruthlessly during both Bahrain and the Saudi Arabian GPs. His 3rd place finish in Sakhir confirmed that he was in the top 3 for the championship fight, and at the same time, the race in Jeddah today looked in his hands to keep that position.

Red Bull drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez lead the World Drivers' Championship standings with 44 and 43 points, respectively.

Alonso (27 points) sits third in the World Drivers' Championship standings and Russell (21 points) is in fourth position.