Fernando Alonso has brilliantly mocked George Russell, following the Spaniard being re-awarded his podium at the 2023 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
Alonso started the race at the Jeddah Corniche Circuit in P2, behind Sergio Perez, and he overtook the Mexican at the start and led the early laps.
However, Perez managed to overtake him for the lead, and Alonso also picked up a five-second penalty for an infringement during the race start.
He was able to serve the penalty during a Safety Car and remained ahead of George Russell, who was right behind him in third position.
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Max Verstappen later overtook both Alonso and Rusell, and the Aston Martin driver crossed the finish line in P3.
But, after the race, the FIA slapped Alonso with an additional 10-second penalty, after it emerged that his Aston Martin mechanics were touching his car with jacks while he was still serving his initial five-second penalty.
This penalty dropped him down to P4, with Russell moving up to P3 to score Mercedes’ first podium of 2023.
Russell took to Twitter after the race to admit that “Fernando and Aston Martin deserved the podium today but I’m very happy to pick up our first trophy of the season and super proud of the hard work the team is putting in.
“Let’s keep pushing,” he added.
However, hours after the race had finished, the FIA reversed the 10-second penalty, after Aston Martin appealed the decision on the basis that there had been several prior instances of mechanics touching a car with jacks while it was serving a penalty – and the driver didn’t receive an additional penalty for this.
Russell is still yet to delete his aforementioned tweet, and Alonso poked fun at him on Monday afternoon.
The Spaniard replied with a close-up selfie, captioned “Hola”, with some emojis depicting Russell giving the P3 trophy back to him.
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The FIA ruling means that Alonso has scored two podiums in the opening two rounds of the 2023 season.
He currently sits third in the Drivers’ Standings on 30 points, just 14 points adrift of championship leader Max Verstappen.
Aston Martin, meanwhile, are second in the Constructors’ Standings despite Lance Stroll being forced to retire from Sunday’s race in Jeddah due to a mechanical failure.