Alonso Raises Concerns Over FIA's Nationality Bias

Fernando Alonso has openly challenged the FIA on what he perceives as nationality-driven disparities in penalty decisions.

Fernando Alonso faced his first major setback in qualifying this year, being eliminated in Q2 and placed 15th on the grid in Miami. The Aston Martin F1 driver acknowledged that this reflected his performance level, as he was 15th in both the first and second parts of the session.

“We seem to be struggling; we were seventh and eighth yesterday, and now we’re not in Q3. For me, it was a poor performance, I was 15th in Q1 and 15th in Q2; I couldn’t do better. We made some changes and, seeing the results, it didn’t work,” Alonso stated.

“It’s tough, within two-tenths you can be eighth or 15th. We have been on the favorable side of this group before, like in China where we were third, a tenth ahead of ninth place. We’ll learn some things in the race tomorrow.”

“It will be challenging for me to score points. Lance has a chance starting 11th, already close to the points. But for me, it will be about learning from the race pace, and that will be the priority.”

Additionally, Alonso reiterated that Spanish drivers were treated differently by the FIA following the absence of a penalty for Lewis Hamilton during the Miami Sprint. This is a sensitive issue, especially considering that, for example, Carlos Sainz avoided significant penalties last year in clear situations.

“Yes, yes, of course. I think nationality matters, and I will speak with Mohammed [Ben Sulayem], with the FIA, no matter what.”

“I need to make sure there’s nothing wrong with nationality or anything that could influence a decision. Not just for me but also for the future generation of Spanish drivers, they need to be protected.”

Lance Stroll is currently 11th, and he aims for points: “It was a frustrating day on the track. My Sprint race ended on the first lap after contact with other cars. It was an unfortunate incident, but there was not much I could do. In qualifying, the car simply didn’t have the pace needed.”

“It’s disappointing to miss out on Q3 by such a small margin, but we struggled to make progress throughout Q2 and I didn’t have the confidence I needed in the car. We’ll try to find a bit more pace for tomorrow’s race and hopefully, we can fight for points in Miami.”