Last Grand Prix at Valencia Fernando Alonso complained bitterly about a drive through penalty that Lewis Hamilton got and the fact it was so late after the fact.
Today Alonso got a drive through penalty for gaining an advantage by missing a corner and quite rightly so.
What he should have done is let the other car back through and then trying again. By not doing so he got a penalty. His defence was that the Renault subsequently retired so it didn’t make a difference.
But it did. It meant he wasn’t held up by the Renault and could therefore go faster.
If the stewards had investigated the issue quicker the Renault would still have been racing and it would have just been a penalty.
I seem to remember at Valencia last year that Lewis Hamilton gained an advantage by overtaking when he missed the final corner, handed back the place to the other car and then overtook the car a second time.
Despite handing back the place Hamilton was given a penalty.
So how did Alonso expect to get away with his flagrant disregard of the rules today?
He was so angry afterwards. I think at himself for not doing the right thing at the time.
How often is it the driver in the wrong who gets angry? It’s the embarrassment that you haven’t done as good a job as you should have or your mind wandered or you was caught where you shouldn’t have been.
Better luck next time Fernando, time to hide away.
