Alonso loses podium after post-race penalty

Fernando Alonso has been demoted from third place in the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix following a post-race time penalty.

The Spaniard finished third behind Sergio Perez and Max Verstappen, and 5.1s clear of George Russell in fourth.

However, an investigation by stewards deemed the Aston Martin driver had not served an earlier penalty correctly which resulted in 10 seconds being added to his race time.

Suspicions were raised in the closing moments of the race before an investigation was confirmed soon after the chequered flag.

A notice on the official timing screens subsequently confirmed the news.

“FIA Stewards: 10 second time penalty for car 14 (ALO) – serving penalty incorrectly,” it stated.

Alonso had initially been penalised for starting outside of his grid box, serving the five seconds at his stop under the Safety Car.

However, it appears the rear jack was in contact with the car prior to the five seconds elapsing, in contravention of the rules.

As a result, George Russell is promoted to third with Alonso dropping to fourth in the official classification.

Results: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

Pos	Num	Driver	Team	Laps/Diff
1	11	Sergio Perez	Red Bull	50
2	1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull	5.355
3	63	George Russell	Mercedes	25.866
4	14	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	30.728
5	44	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	31.065
6	55	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	35.876
7	16	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	43.162
8	31	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	52.832
9	10	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	54.747
10	20	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	64.826
11	22	Yuki Tsunoda	Scuderia AlphaTauri	67.494
12	27	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	70.588
13	24	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo Sauber	76.06
14	21	Nyck de Vries	Scuderia AlphaTauri	77.478
15	81	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	85.021
16	2	Logan Sargeant	Williams	86.293
17	4	Lando Norris	McLaren	86.445
18	77	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo Sauber	1L
	23	Alex Albon	Williams	23L
	18	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	34L