Alonso dubious about FIA changes to starting grid slots

Fernando Alonso says he's not convinced that the changes rushed in by the FIA over how the starting grid rules are implemented will fully address the confusion seen in Saudi Arabia.

Under new regulations brought in by the governing body over the winter, Alonso was deemed to be positioned too far to the left in his grid box for the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Alonso was duly handed a five second grid penalty during the race, which he served during a safety car period. He was later handed a further ten second penalty when it was alleged that a team member then touched the car too soon.

• Read also: FIA increases width of grid box in Melbourne to avert penalties

The second penalty was subsequently revoked upon appeal, after hours of confusion in which Alonso appeared on the podium in Jeddah but the trophy was then handed to fourth-placed George Russell before being taken back again.

It was all very confusing, and it was the second race in a row where a driver had got tripped up by the overly strict rules. In Bahrain, Esteban Ocon suffered a series of penalties after he too was deemed out of position at the start.

Drivers responded by pointing out that it was hard to see the relevant grid markings from their position seated low in the cockpit, and that there should be 'common sense' enforcement of the rules rather than hardline penalties.

“It is difficult,” Alonso told the media in Melbourne on Thursday. “And apparently this year it seems even more, because in two races to have two penalties is a bit strange.

“In my case it didn’t change much from last year. It is difficult. We are very concentrated on the yellow line, to not go too far forward.

"You approach the box, not looking at the box – you are 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 focussed on the box this weekend and avoid any penalty," he acknowledged.

This week, the grid markings at Albert Park have been modified in response to the drivers' comments. The slots are 20cm wider and there is a new central guiding line to help drivers judge their position more accurately.

Asked how much of a difference that would make, Alonso sounded sceptical. “The centre line, I don’t think so, because as I said you approach the box looking sideways. You’re not looking forwards.

"That’s the biggest difficulty, but 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 not you crash if you start just straight," he pointed out.

"We have to see how we apply the penalties and things like that in those races, but no one wants to get the penalty for the start," he said.

"I think the FIA doesn’t want to have any problem with that, because there is not a performance advantage as long as you don’t go too forward. So hopefully we avoid anything from now on.”

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