Alonso Holds Two Meetings with FIA President in Miami

Fernando Alonso met with the FIA president twice in Miami, discussing stewardship issues within Formula 1.

On Saturday, the Spaniard stated he would seek to discuss with Mohammed Ben Sulayem about concerns that “nationality” might influence the severity of penalties issued to drivers by race stewards.

Then, at the Miami GP on Sunday, another Spaniard, Carlos Sainz, admitted he was surprised to have been penalized rather than Australian Oscar Piastri for their wheel-to-wheel battle.

“I don’t think about nationalities, I think about consistency and inconsistency,” said the Ferrari driver when asked if he felt being Spanish was less “protective” against the FIA’s wrath.

“During the race, I was surprised that Piastri did something similar to what Kevin Magnussen did on Saturday, and in the race, he received no penalty. I thought, ‘if we all want to race like that, let’s go.'”

The two-time world champion and Aston Martin F1 driver thus met backstage with the FIA president.

“Yes, not twice. It was a useful meeting with him in the end. He always agrees with all the drivers’ opinions. He knows it’s us who drive the cars and that we might have suggestions on certain things. There are a few points we need to address as a sport. He always listens to us to make F1 a better and a bit more consistent sport.”

Alonso also admitted it had simply been a bad weekend for both himself and Aston Martin.

“We started the year as the fifth-best team, but in Miami, we struggled even more, battling with Alpine and RBF1.”

“At Imola, we will bring some improvements, so let’s see if it brings us closer to Mercedes. But I also wasn’t very comfortable and not very good in terms of performance here.”

“We need to take a step forward, everyone does, and at Imola, we must do it too.”