04 April 2023 , 20:41
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Aston Martin have impressed with their car performance so far this season – while they have also enjoyed the rub of the green in the FIA offices.
Fernando Alonso may be the older active driver in Formula 1, but he has shown no signs of slowing down just yet. The Spaniard has a new lease of life with his new team and, thanks to their new-found competitiveness, the double champion has returned to the sharp end of the grid.
Alonso has finished third in all three races so far in 2023. And his team-mate Lance Stroll has also scored good points despite an unfortunate DNF in Saudi Arabia, with Aston Martin second in the constructors' standings behind only runaway leaders Red Bull.
Their strong results have been assisted, somewhat, by a couple of favourable decisions from the stewards. The first came in Saudi Arabia, after Alonso was initially stripped of his podium after the race, accused of not properly serving a time penalty during a pit stop.
Footage showed a jack was touching the rear of his car before he had served his full penalty in the pit box. But Aston Martin managed to get that decision successfully overturned later on and, even though the third-placed trophy had already been passed on to George Russell, Alonso was restored to the podium.
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In Australia last weekend, it looked as though the Spaniard had lost out on the podium when he was spun by Carlos Sainz just two laps from the end, after a standing restart. Unlike four others who had crashed out, his engine was still running and he was able to continue after the race was red flagged for the third time.
Ted Kravitz made a point of mentioning how Aston Martin have benefitted from two big FIA decisions (Sky Sports)The 41-year-old would then have been delighted to learn that, as the cars had not reached the end of the first sector before the red flags were waved, he would be restarting again back in third place. Haas officially protested against this after the race but, following a lengthy period of deliberation, the result of the race stood.
Speaking on the Sky Sports F1 podcast, Ted Kravitz noted that the team's lobbying efforts have paid off big time. "What a blinder Aston Martin have played. In the last two races, they've managed to get two sporting decisions to go their way," said the pit lane reporter.
"[There was] 'No, the jack didn't touch the rear crash structure... okay it did, but if it did then it wasn't working on the car', went their way. And, 'Let's start from the grid, just ignore the fact our car spun and they may have passed some kind of timing'.
"They've played a blinder, haven't they? People call it luck – no no, there's no luck about it. Fernando wasn't lucky, Aston are absolutely playing a blinder on getting these decisions go their way."