The United States Grand Prix stewards will begin the proceedings to hear Alpine’s protest against Fernando Alonso’s penalty on Thursday.
Alonso lost all the points he scored in the race when he was given a penalty which dropped him from seventh to 15th in the final results.The penalty was prompted by a protest brought by Haas, which claimed Alonso’s car was run in an unsafe condition as its right-hand wing mirror became loose and fell off following his collision with Lance Stroll. The stewards upheld Haas’s protest and issued Alonso a 10-second stop-and-go penalty which was converted into a 30-second time penalty.
The first hearing will determine whether Alpine’s appeal is admissible. If it is found to be, another hearing will be arranged. Representatives of Alpine and Haas have been invited to the hearing, which will take place via a videoconference.
Alpine is protesting whether Haas’s appeal was admissible. In a statement yesterday the team said: “Due to the protest being lodged 24 minutes past the specified deadline, it should not have been accepted and therefore the penalty should be considered as invalid.”
The stewards noted the late submission of Haas’s protest when Alonso’s penalty was announced. They stated they “determined that the compliance with the deadline was not possible in this case.”
Article 13.3.5 of the International Sporting Code allows for this, stating protests must be submitted “no later than 30 minutes after the publication of the Provisional Classification, except […] in circumstances where the stewards consider that compliance with the 30-minute deadline would be impossible.”
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Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
24th October 2022, 19:39
Classic no-hope Otmar move.
Pedro
24th October 2022, 22:33
I’m not understanding why does Haas and Alpine need to be heard on this, if the appeal is regarding a late protest…either the protest was made behond the limit ir not…
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
24th October 2022, 23:25
The Haas protest was made beyond the regular 30-minute window, but there is an exception in this rule that allows the stewards to consider the protest even after said window has concluded (“in circumstances where the stewards consider that compliance with the 30-minute deadline would be impossible”), which is what they chose to do.
There is nothing that Alpine can do about that, although they are apparently going forward with their inadmissible protest at least until someone calms them down enough to explain the reality of their situation.
Pedro
25th October 2022, 0:06
I’m aware of that…but still i’m not getting why are they beeing heard, what can they ask Haas? At what time did you filed the protest? I think this os yet another situation that they should avoid if the article 13.5.5 is clear….there’s nothing to talk
Ajaxn
25th October 2022, 18:12
This protest was a late afterthought by Haas, they could have made their feelings known any time in the race. we all saw that incident when Alonso’s mirror fell off. It was unsafe then. Presumably, the race stewards also so the incident and made a decision then. Now Haas looks to take some point off their rivals as a very late afterthought, and its upheld?
PMP
26th October 2022, 12:59
They could talk about was it impossible to comply with the 30-minute deadline. I don’t remember hearing any explonation yet why it was impossible.
Tim
25th October 2022, 3:45
Haas is American remember that when contemplating this shenanigans
Ancient1 (@ancient1)
25th October 2022, 7:13
Was of the opinion that there had to be NEW evidence not heard/considered in the initial enquiry to warrant a protest hearing.
Waiting with interest!!!
RandomMallard
25th October 2022, 16:36
@ancient1 For an appeal against the merits of the case, that’s generally correct. What’s at matter here though is whether the protest from Haas should have even been heard in the first place, as it was filed after the deadline (which, in classic FIA fashion, is ambiguous because there is a disclaimer allowing for a late protest to be heard “in circumstances where the stewards consider that compliance with the 30-minute deadline would be impossible”).
Alpine aren’t arguing about whether the car was safe or not. They are appealing whether Haas’ protest, lodged 24 minutes after the deadline, should have been heard considering it was after the deadline.
Proesterchen (@proesterchen)
26th October 2022, 12:14
The part Alpine supposedly are trying to protest cannot be appealed against, as the stewards were aware of the timing, considered and granted the exception, exactly as described in the International Sporting Code.
Jere (@jerejj)
25th October 2022, 11:09
F1 teams, more often than not, protest their justified post-race penalties or DSQs rather than accepting them immediately, which is somewhat stupid.
Casanova (@casanova)
25th October 2022, 11:36
Given that the mirror fell off during the race, how can it have been impossible to file the protest within 30 minutes of the publication of the Provisional Classification?
MichaelN
25th October 2022, 17:31
Perhaps Haas needed FIA approved technical reports to confirm that the mirror fell off. Otherwise, who knows what Haas is even talking about?
After all, these are the same FIA officials that observed Pérez’ wing flapping around for 8 to 10 laps, and then got all confused when the wing was suddenly without it’s loose part. In their report, they actually wrote down – with, one assumes – a straight face: “Mr Bauer explained that after the end plate had fallen off, Red Bull had contacted him and sent him detailed photos of the front wing. Mr Bauer determined that the car was not in an unsafe condition.”
Next up, Mr Bauer will determine that Russell should not have gotten his penalty, because after Sainz had retired, Mercedes sent him a detailed photo of Russell on track without Sainz anywhere in sight.
Ajaxn
25th October 2022, 18:17
LOL!!
its yet another one of those loopholes in the rules left to the steward’s own discretion.
Ajaxn
25th October 2022, 18:21
….4 hours later,
Oliver / Haas: Please sir can we have some more penalties? FIA : MORE??