Alpine have confirmed that they have protested against Haas' post-race protest against them at the United States Grand Prix, which resulted in a penalty for Fernando Alonso. After the race in Austin, Haas lodged a protest against Sergio Perez's Red Bull and Alonso's Alpine, with the team having taken issue with the lack of action from the stewards regarding damage on both cars. Perez had picked up damage on the opening lap after a tangle with Alfa Romeo's Valtteri Bottas, while Alonso sustained damage in his mid-race collision with the Aston Martin of Lance Stroll. While Alonso pitted for repairs, he continued to race with a loose wing mirror which eventually detached on track. Damaged cars which are considered to be dangerous are issued with the black and orange flag, which is an instruction to pit the offending vehicle. Haas have fallen foul of the black and orange flags on a couple of occasions during the 2022 season, something which the team have publicly complained about. While the American squad's protest against Red Bull was not upheld, Alonso was hit with a 30-second time penalty after his car was deemed to not be in a safe condition during the race, dropping him down from the points-paying position of P7 to P15. Now, Alpine have stated that they have protested against the admissibility of Haas' protest, with Alonso's team arguing that Haas submitted their protest after the given deadline.
Alpine 'disappointed' with post-race penalty for Alonso
"BWT Alpine F1 Team is disappointed to receive a post-race time penalty for Car #14 from today’s United States Grand Prix, which unfortunately means Fernando moves to outside the points-paying positions," a statement from Alpine reads. "The team acted fairly and deemed the car remained structurally safe as a result of Fernando's incident with Lance Stroll on Lap 22 of the race with the right-side rear view wing mirror detaching from the chassis as a result of accident damage caused by Stroll. "The FIA has the right to black and orange flag a car during the race if they consider it unsafe and, on this occasion, they assessed the car and decided not to action the flag. Moreover, after the race, the FIA technical delegate considered the car legal. "The team also believes due to the protest being lodged 24 minutes past the specified deadline, it should not have been accepted and therefore the penalty should be considered as invalid. "As a result of this point, the team has protested the admissibility of the original Haas F1 Team protest."
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