One of the most shocking moments of the US Grand Prix last Sunday was when Lance Stroll‘S blatant block on Alpine’s Fernando Alonso. When Alonso tried to squarely overtake the Canadian at the Circuit of the Americas, Stroll looked in his mirror and turned left right in front of Alonso. The couple bumped into each other. Left rear tire on Stroll’s Aston Martin was torn apart, and he was turning inside the barrier.
Fernando Alonso’s Alpine front is raised off the road. His Alpine looked like it was going to launch off the top of the fence and into the perimeter fence. However, the quick thinking from the two-time world champion avoided a terrifying collision. Alonso slammed on the brake to put his front tire back on the ground and drove back to the track. The Spaniard took his Alpine back to the pits, where his car got a new set of tires and a new front spoiler and was then returned to the race.
Alonso would finish seventh with his damaged car, but all in vain. He was removed from the scoring position by 30th penalty. After the race, Haas protested that the race director should have shown Alonso the black and orange flag (or meatballs) for continuing to do damage. The black and orange flag was shown to Haas’ Kevin Magnussen earlier this season with less damage to his car.
FIA has now overturned Alonso’s penalty after the call from Alpine. The decision was not made as managers changed their mind about the extent of Alonso’s damage. Haas filed an objection 24 minutes after the deadline. While the condition of Alonso’s overturned car was not the subject of the protest, the FIA will look into the use of the black and orange flag and how the cars are believed to be damaged to a dangerous degree.
