Alonso handed post-race penalty for missing mirror

Fernando Alonso has been handed a post-race penalty after Stewards upheld a protest submitted by Haas following the Formula 1 United States Grand Prix.

The Spaniard crossed the line seventh though was subject to a protest by the American-registered squad which argued he should have been shown the black and orange flag.

It was argued that Alonso’s Alpine was unsafe to drive with only one mirror and the car should have been called into the pits.

Stewards declared Haas’ protest was admissible post-race before investigating the matter.

According to the Stewards report, FIA Formula 1 Technical Delegate, Jo Bauer stated in the subsequent hearing that “a car needs to have two mirrors and that in his opinion, which the Stewards accept as expert opinion, the car was unsafe to be driven with a mirror missing.”

That is a view shared by Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s Single Seater Technical Director.

“The Stewards are deeply concerned that Car 14 was not given the black and orange flag, or at least a radio call to rectify the situation, despite the two calls to Race Control by the Haas Team,” the Stewards report noted.

“Notwithstanding the above, Article 3.2 of the Formula 1 Sporting Regulations is clear – a car must be in a safe condition throughout a race, and in this case, Car 14 was not. This is a responsibility of the Alpine Team.”

“The Stewards determine to impose a 10 second Stop and Go penalty (30 second time penalty applied after the race) to Car 14.”

The penalty sees Alonso fall from seventh to 15th, promoting Sebastian Vettel, Kevin Magnussen, and Esteban Ocon into the points.

Haas also submitted a similar protest against the Red Bull of Sergio Perez for a damaged endplate on his front wing, sustained on the opening lap, but that was dismissed.

UPDATE: Alpine to protest penalty

Results: Formula 1 United States Grand Prix