During the sprint race in Shanghai, Fernando Alonso from Spain was fighting closely with the Ferrari drivers for third place. The race was almost over, and Alonso’s tires were wearing out fast.
As Alonso and the Ferrari drivers kept passing each other, they had a collision at Turn 9, just two laps before the race ended. This collision caused Alonso’s tire to puncture, so he had to go to the pit to get new tires. Eventually, he had to retire from the race.
The race officials called both Alonso and the Ferrari driver, Carlos Sainz, to talk about the incident. They decided that Alonso was responsible for the collision because he could have avoided it.
Even though Alonso couldn’t finish the race, the officials added 10 seconds to his race time as a penalty. This is a rule they want to change because it’s not clear in the regulations.
The officials said, “According to the rules if a penalty is given after the race, 10 seconds are added to the driver’s time. So, we added 10 seconds to Alonso’s race time.”
After the race, Alonso talked to a Spanish channel called DAZN. He said that in one part of the track, he and Sainz were fighting equally. But in another part, Sainz didn’t leave him enough space on the track, so they collided.
Alonso got three penalty points for this incident. Now, in the past year, he has a total of six penalty points.
