Fernando Alonso has lost his 100th podium in F1 at the Saudi Arabian GP after he was handed a 10-second time penalty after the chequered flag.
There was some confusion towards the end of the race as it became clear that Alonso may be facing a further penalty for his pit stop during the safety car caused by the retirement of his teammate Lance Stroll.
Alonso had to serve a 5-second penalty during the stop after he was found to have gone outside his grid markers at the race start, and the stewards ruled that while he was serving the penalty, one of the mechanics touched the car before the time was up.
That means that, similarly to what happened to Esteban Ocon at the Bahrain GP, the Spaniard was given another 10-second time penalty, pushing him out of the podium spots.
As a result, George Russell will be promoted to third to take the first podium spot of 2023 for Mercedes.
Aston Martin Heartbreak
The Aston Martin team had seemed confident that Alonso would avoid a further penalty for the pitlane incident when on the radio to the driver in the closing stages of the race, but encouraged him to push to maintain a 5-second gap to Russell in fourth.
While the Spaniard managed to do just that, crossing the line over 5 seconds ahead of the Mercedes, the 10-second penalty means that Alonso lost the final podium spot nonetheless.
