Fernando Alonso is certainly feeling the love from his fans currently, as #JusticeforAlonso became trending on Twitter ahead of Alpine’s appeal to the FIA that the Spaniard was wrongly awarded a penalty at the United States Grand Prix.
After last weekend’s race at the Circuit of the Americas, Alonso was awarded a 30-second time penalty for driving a car on the circuit which was deemed ‘unsafe’ after the race by FIA technical delegate Jo Bauer.
It is a miracle that Alonso managed to finish the race, following his airborne collision with Lance Stroll down the main straight.
The double World Champion’s A522 hit the rear of Stroll’s car at over 180 mph, as a result of a late move to the left by the Canadian.
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Whilst Stroll then span in the middle of the circuit, the front of Alonso’s car took-off dramatically but thankfully landed back on the circuit prior to the Alpine driver hitting the barrier.
Remarkably, Alonso suffered only a damaged front-wing and a broken right-mirror, which flew off later in the race.
It was for this reason that Haas protested to the FIA that the 41-year-old should’ve been awarded a black and orange flag, as Kevin Magnussen has done multiple times this season.
The governing body agreed with Haas so therefore awarded the penalty, which dumped Alonso out of the points.
A time penalty usually isn’t able to be protested; however, the Enstone-based side found a loophole due to the Americans submitting their protest after the deadline.
The appeal will be heard on Thursday, with Alpine setting out to get the time-penalty reverted, something a large number of fans have argued must happen.
Alonso thinks the appeal is an “important day” for the sport, with the “future” integrity of the sport and the rulebook up for discussion.
“Thanks for all the messages I received yesterday and today,” Alonso wrote to his fans.
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“It’s one of those rare times in sport that I feel we are all on the same page and share the same opinion towards rules and regulations.
“Therefore, Thursday is an important day for the sport we love so much, as this decision will dictate if we are going in the right direction for the future.
“Thanks again for all your support.”