AUSTIN, Texas (Reuters) – Alpine’s double world champion Fernando Alonso lost seventh place at the U.S. Grand Prix on Sunday after stewards upheld a protest from Formula One rivals Haas about the safety of his car.
Haas had protested decisions to allow the Spaniard and Red Bull’s Sergio Perez, who finished fourth, to continue racing with loose bodywork.
Stewards at Austin’s Circuit of the Americas rejected the protest against Red Bull but upheld the one against Renault-owned Alpine, dropping Alonso to 15th with a 30 seconds post-race penalty.
Haas had argued that Alonso’s car was being driven in an unsafe condition after a collision because the right-hand mirror was moving around before it finally fell off, without harming anybody.
The U.S.-owned team made the point that they had been shown a black and orange flag, requiring a driver to pit due to mechanical problems or loose bodywork, on three occasions this season.
Technical chiefs for the governing FIA told stewards the car was unsafe to be driven with a flapping mirror and after it had fallen off.
“A car must be in a safe condition throughout a race, and in this case, Car 14 (Alonso) was not,” stewards said in a statement. “This is a responsibility of the Alpine team.”
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin in London, editing by Peter Rutherford)
