Fernando Alonso has condemned abuse sent to FIA steward Silvia Bellot in the aftermath of the United States Grand Prix and his Formula 1 penalty. Alonso's Alpine was originally given a 30 second time penalty after finishing seventh at Austin last weekend, despite heavy contact with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. The Spaniard's right wing mirror was damaged in the airborne shunt, with it eventually detaching a number of laps later. However, post-race the Haas team protested both Alonso and Sergio Perez, who also had damage, for a lack of inconsistency as their driver Kevin Magnussen had been given the black and orange flag three times in the season for similar levels of damage. The Perez case was thrown out, but the stewards felt Alonso's car was not safe, despite it passing post-race checks. Alpine signalled their intention to appeal against the legitimacy of Haas's protest as it was lodged outside the prescribed time limit. On Thursday in Mexico, Haas's protest was thrown out and Alonso's P7 reinstated. However, some on social media had sent abuse to steward Bellot in the aftermath of the decision to penalise him - something Alonso condemned. "This type of hateful behaviour is unacceptable in sport and society," he wrote on Instagram. "It is particularly deplorable that these comments are aimed at one of our sport's volunteers and officials."
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