Aston Martin drivers receive penalties from weekend to weekend. According to their boss, inconsistently. Would Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll be the judges’ favorite targets?
With some exaggeration, we could say that Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll have scored more penalty points than championship points in the last three weekends. The Spaniard was penalized with 20 seconds and 3 penalty points for his braking trick during the battle against George Russell in Melbourne, and 10 seconds and another 3 penalty points after the sprint race in China. Stroll, meanwhile, was hit with a 10-second time penalty at the Shanghai race after punching Daniel Ricciardo.
The three cases were completely different, but they have one thing in common: Aston Martin felt that all three sentences were excessive. According to team boss Mike Krack, it cannot be said that the FIA’s judgment has become more consistent in 2024…
“The sprint race was here, Melbourne was there, Lance was here. Last time in Melbourne the car in front got a penalty even though they didn’t even meet, this time it was the car in the back. Lance was spun in the first round in Bahrain, he fought back in the field, but the person who caused the accident was not penalized. It wasn’t consistent. We can feel it that way.”
“It’s frustrating. On the other hand, everyone is human, everyone tries to do the best they can. The best remedy is to have a fast car and just walk. Max (Verstappen) has no penalties. So it’s up to us to make it so” said Crack.
Fernando Alonso and Lance Stroll (Photo: Aston Martin)
Two of their competitors are not doing the best with the penalty points. Alonso is currently at 6, Stroll at 7. Krack was asked if he didn’t feel like his partner was being ostracized and stricter than most.
“It’s interesting that they ask this because it shows that you feel the same way. There was a debate about racing standards and tougher penalties earlier this year. But we want action on the sprints, don’t we? And there was a sale! I think it was a great race, even if we came out of it badly. Then again we spent hours in front of the judges. Then you feel like it’s not fair.”
“Maybe we’ll sleep on it for two and we’ll see it differently, but we had an incident where someone pushed another car at turn six and they didn’t do anything. Or there were the two Ferraris who pushed each other and didn’t leave enough room – there was no action. Fernando? Ten seconds at a time…” – Krack made it clear that they really feel this imbalance in judging.
