Fernando Alonso has questioned some of the changes made by the FIA to help avoid penalties at the start of Formula 1 races. The Aston Martin driver became the second driver in two races to be penalised for missing their grid slot at the start of the Saudi Arabian GP, which sparked a chain reaction of penalty dramas across the race . "It is difficult, and apparently this year it seems even more, because in two races to have two penalties is a little bit strange," Alonso commented to media when asked about the post-race podium confusion. "We are very concentrated on the yellow line to not go too far forward, so you approach the box not looking at the box. "You're looking on one side of the cockpit, so maybe that's a bit of a distraction, but I made a mistake there, so we will try to be more focused on the box this weekend and avoid any penalty."
The FIA have attempted to address the issue by making the grid boxes 20cm wider and painting a yellow centreline on each grid box to help the drivers line up their cars. When asked if he believed that the changes would help address the issue, Alonso questioned the addition of a centre line, and doubted its effectiveness at some unique circuits. "The centre line... I don't think so, because you approach the box looking sideways, so you're not looking forward, so that's the biggest difficulty," Alonso responded. "The 20 centimetres will help I guess. There's going to be some circuits, maybe Monaco or Imola, that you start a little bit sideways anyway because, if you don't, you crash if you start straight. "We'll have to see how we apply the penalties and things like that in those races. "No one wants to get a penalty for the start. Also, I think the FIA doesn't want to have any problems that because there is no performance advantage, as long as you don't go forward. So, hopefully we avoid anything from now on."
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