Alpine’s Fernando Alonso appeared to gain time by cutting the chicane at the Japanese Grand Prix last weekend.
The Spaniard started the race seventh behind Sir Lewis Hamilton, and he made an attempt at passing the seven-time champion into Turn 10 on the opening lap.
However, Hamilton came back at the Alpine, but they had to cease their battle when Carlos Sainz crashed into the wall and caused a red flag.
It did not take long for the FIA to bring themselves into disrepute once more when they deployed a recovery vehicle onto a live racetrack, eight years after Jules Bianchi had passed away as a result of the same mistake at the same race.
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The crane nearly wiped out Pierre Gasly, who asserted that he would not have survived had he not been fortunate enough to miss it by a couple of metres.
The Safety Car got the race back underway after a long suspension, and it became a 40-minute sprint race in challenging conditions for the drivers.
Many of the runners quicky came to the realisation that the conditions were too dry for the extreme Wets, so they started coming into the pits to switch to Intermediates.
Alonso was one of the last ones to come in, and from the lead of the race, the 41-year-old locked up heading into the final chicane, straight-lining it on his way into the pits.
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The stewards either did not notice that possible infringement, or decided that it was not worth an investigation, and Alonso emerged ahead of Nicholas Latifi and Lando Norris, who had both undercut him.
Alonso later changed onto another set of the Intermediates, and he came back through to pass George Russell for seventh, beginning his pursuit of Sebastian Vettel for sixth on the final lap.
The pair, with six world titles between them, crossed the line at the same time, with Vettel just, and only just, keeping hold of the position.