FIA considering disrepute penalty for Alonso now?
May 21 - The FIA is reportedly looking into whether Fernando Alonso has brought Formula 1 into disrepute with his stinging criticism of the sport's officials.
A few days ago, the two-time champion said at a personal sponsor event that the "most worrying thing" about F1's new era was "the race direction and the stewards".
Indeed, F1 ousted Michael Masi at the end of last year and replaced the controversial race director with two newcomers - Niels Wittich and Eduardo Freitas.
"With all the changes that have taken place, they have not adapted too well and it is a concern for all the drivers right now," Alonso said earlier this week.
He then stepped up the rhetoric to fever pitch in Friday's official FIA press conference ahead of his home Spanish GP, aiming particular fire at Wittich and the Miami stewards for a "very unfair" penalty.
"It was just incompetence from the stewards," said the 40-year-old. "They were not very professional, I think.
"After the race we arrived with all the proofs and they were just packing up," added Alonso. "They didn't know how to get back from that document.
"Honestly, it is something that should not happen in Formula 1, with professionalism and the standards that Formula 1 has right now."
After making the comments, Alonso was seen chatting with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem and Wittich's co-race director, Eduardo Freitas, at the Alpine motorhome.
Reports suggest Alonso's disparaging remarks have been referred to the stewards.
Alpine team boss Otmar Szafnauer defended his driver.
When asked about the press conference transcript, he said: "I have read it.
"In Miami he was punished twice. Then Norris and Gasly collided and there was no penalty. I think it's fair to say that the FIA was inconcistent," Szafnauer told AS newspaper.
"Mick Schumacher took Vettel out and there was no penalty even though they were fighting for points. So why did Fernando receive a penalty?
"I think it's justified that Fernando is irritated by the decisions of the FIA."
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I get what Otmar tried to point out with inconsistency, although Alonso's chicane cuts were clear-cut, so undisputable.
Therefore, his complaining about stewards & RDs is funny & pretty invalid.
"Not only must the King be honest, he must be seen to be honest."
When there are discrepant penalties for identical transgressions, then it is fair to conclude the authority issuing the penalties is in error.
F1 is very much like flying a fighter jet - when things go wrong, they go wrong very quickly. Adjudicating an on-going F1 race with rules that are applied in anything other than complete objectivity erodes the Race Directors' and Steward's credibility.
Additionally - the shennigan's going on with Dame Lucille's jewellery and panties has cast a shadow over the sport as a whole.
It appears racing in Formula 1 has become a by-product of all this bullsh_t.
Singleness-of-purpose, boys and girls - let's get back to racing.
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