Fernando Alonso holds top-level FIA talks after Lewis Hamilton incident draws complaint

Fernando Alonso and the FIA logo

Having stood firm on his opinion that “nationality matters” when the stewards make their rulings, Fernando Alonso followed through with his promise to speak with FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Alonso, a driver who has been heavily penalised in recent weeks, was irked by the stewards at the Miami Grand Prix when they opted not to penalise Lewis Hamilton despite the Briton crashing into Alonso at the start of the Sprint.

Fernando Alonso spoke with the FIA president in Miami

Racing for position, Alonso tangled with his team-mate Lance Stroll only for Hamilton to come charging up the inside of the Spaniard, “like a bull” as Alonso put it, and plough into the Aston Martin.

Hamilton was investigated by the stewards after the Sprint, but Alonso predicted what the outcome would be.

“Let’s see what they [the stewards] decide, I guess they won’t decide anything because he’s not Spanish,” he told DAZN.

The stewards opted not to penalise Hamilton, ruling that he was just one part of multiple collisions and therefore was not solely to blame.

Alonso stood firm in his opinion that “nationality matters” to the stewards and said he would speak with FIA president Ben Sulayem about it.

He added: “I need to make sure that there is not anything wrong with my nationality or anything that can influence any decision – not only for me, also for the future generation of Spanish drivers that need to be protected.”

The Spaniard was later spotted leaving the FIA hospitality area with his team boss Mike Krack.

PlanetF1.com’s recommended reading

F1 2024: Head-to-head race statistics between team-mates

Revealed: The most fined drivers and teams on the F1 2024 grid

The Spaniard confirmed to the media in Miami on Sunday that he had spoken with Ben Sulayem, and hailed the FIA president as someone who is “always” willing to listen to the drivers.

“I spoke with him and he’s always on board on every opinion that the drivers have,” Alonso said.

“He knows that we are the ones driving the cars and that we can have some suggestions on things.

“There are a couple of points that we need to address as a sport. But he has always listened to us. Let’s see if we make F1 a better sport and a little bit more consistent.”

Krack, who had previously said it felt as if his drivers were being targeted, says better consistency is needed.

The Aston Martin team boss also called for the entire grid to review this year’s new guidelines.

“There are two elements there. One is obviously we want consistent judgements,” said the German.

“But on the other hand, we have also introduced new guidelines for this season – and sometimes maybe we fall foul also a bit to be stuck in the way we have been driving before.

“Sometimes you think they should be more consistent. But depending on which end [of the penalty] you are, obviously, you [have] a different interpretation of consistency.

“But I think everybody wants consistency. Everybody should look over the guidelines, including ourselves, and then we take a fresh start.”