Two other drivers were in the wrong position on the grid but were not penalized
Mispositioned at the start, Fernando Alonso quickly received a five-second penalty. Valtteri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda, who were also out of position, managed to escape an FIA sanction.
This year, the International Automobile Federation is being uncompromising about the position of the drivers in their grid slot at the start.
The first penalty was imposed in the first round in Bahrain on the Alpine driver, Esteban Ocon. Two weeks later, in Saudi Arabia at the Jeddah circuit, it was the Aston Martin driver, Fernando Alonso, who made the mistake. A mistake without which he would not have lost, then regained, his third place. [You can read more about it here](/f1/actualite/29962-fernando-alonso-penalise-perd-100eme-podium-djeddah.html).
Except, he was not the only one who had stopped unconventionally on the grid.
On the onboard camera footage, it is clearly visible that Valterri Bottas and Yuki Tsunoda, who are starting one behind the other, also exceed their positions.
Are they within the allowed limits? Is it a ground sensor problem? Or did the race commissioners miss it? So many questions without answers for now.
Meanwhile, the FIA has planned, before the next Grand Prix in Australia, to clarify the rules regarding the application of penalties in the pit lane, following the controversy surrounding Alonso’s 100th podium in Jeddah.
