When is an infraction not subject to penalty? For the F茅d茅ration Internationale de l鈥橝utomobile, it鈥檚 when previous transgressions were not sanctioned as well. That鈥檚 the message the Formula 1 governing body effectively sent after it reversed an earlier decision to strip Aston Martin鈥檚 Fernando Alonso of a podium finish in the Saudi Grand Prix. Simply put, he failed to properly serve a five-second penalty for not having lined up at the starting grid in accordance with regulations.
Confused? Well, you鈥檙e not alone. Even fans who dutifully followed the race saw themselves hard-pressed to understand how Murphy鈥檚 Law seemed to inject itself repeatedly from the get-go insofar as Alonso鈥檚 bid was concerned. First, he lined up wrongly in his second-place slot prior to the beginning sequence; the left tires of his AMR23 crossed the limit as marked. Then, when he was serving the five-second penalty for the mistake during a pit stop in the 18th lap, a rear jack evidently 鈥渢ouched鈥 his car 鈥 which officials interpreted as 鈥渨orking鈥 on the car, necessitating another penalty.
Which should have been well and good. Unfortunately, race stewards saw fit to declare a review of Alonso鈥檚 pit stop in the last of the 50-lap race. By that time, the veteran driver was well on his way to a third-place finish, which he then formally celebrated prior to being stripped of it; the additional 10-second penalty actually came close 鈥 make that three-tenths of a second close 鈥 to relegating him to fifth.
Needless to say, Aston Martin protested the outcome. And in the exercise of its right to take arbitrators to task, it came with evidence that other similarly situated cars were not hitherto penalized for having 鈥渢ouched鈥 a piece of equipment. And so the powers that be had to do yet another about face. Unfortunately, the process took too long for comfort, thus adding to the discomfiture of all and sundry.
Governance problems are not new to Formula One, as the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix that decided the 2021 Drivers Championship proved only too well. That said, there has been a reasonable assumption that things would be better 鈥 much, much better 鈥 moving forward. After all, rules now require real-time reviews of potentially significant incidents by race control and the Remote Operations Center. Clearly, though, there is still much that needs to be done 鈥 and the FIA would do well to act decisively. There are only so many blows it can take before it finds its credibility shot for good.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing Courtside since 大象传媒 introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, oprerations and human resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
