Mexico City (AFP) - Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso was reinstated in seventh place at the United States Grand Prix on Friday when his Alpine team successfully protested a 30-second post-race penalty that had demoted him to 15th.
Alonso was penalised following a protest by the Haas team which resulted in his Alpine car being deemed to be dangerous because of a loose mirror following a high-speed crash.
The protest was heard by stewards on Friday ahead of practice at the Mexican Grand Prix.
Alpine were told initially that their protest would be inadmissible, but having used a right to review, they succeeded in presenting new evidence to allow a protest to be considered.
Haas’s protest was then found to be inadmissible because it was made 24 minutes later than allowed in the regulations.
Alonso said he had expected to be reinstated because the decision was vital to the future integrity of the sport.
Speaking at a news conference on Thursday, he said: “The FIA has been very transparent to us this year… I think they are doing things a little bit different than in the past so I have full trust [in] what they will decide.”
He added: “If this is the right decision to take, it will open a huge problem for the future as I think 50, 60 or 70 percent of the cars will have to retire when they have an aerodynamic device that is not properly fixed because it’s going to be ‘unsafe’."
Alonso also warned of the confusion that can be caused if late protests are allowed.
“If 20 minutes is too late, but it’s okay to protest, is one month too late?Is one hour too late?Is 10 years too late?When it’s too late?So that, I think we cannot afford.
“So, this is a very important day for our sport.”
