Alonso sanctioned for ignoring blue flags in Hamilton/Verstappen battle

Fernando Alonso has been sanctioned by the Formula 1 race stewards in Japan for failing to slow sufficiently for blue flags during the battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen towards the end of the race at Suzuka.

Hamilton and Verstappen were separated by less than a second with two laps remaining in the Japanese Grand Prix as they picked their way through traffic, with Alonso struggling to get out of the way while running 11th.

Alonso allowed Hamilton past on the run down to the hairpin, but chopped back in front of Verstappen before then releasing the Red Bull driver before Spoon.

The stewards issued a report after the race confirming Alonso had not adhered to blue flag regulations correctly, resulting in his first reprimand of the season and two penalty points for his FIA Super Licence.

"Alonso was shown a solid blue indicator light o his dash and waved blue flags between Turn 14 and Turn 15 on Lap 51," notes the report. "He also had received a flashing blue light informing him that race leader Lewis Hamilton was closing on him for over a lap before. Alonso let Hamilton pass during Lap 52 at Turn 11.

"The drivers have been told in drivers' briefings that the provisions of the International Sporting Code, that they 'must allow the following car to pass at the earliest opportunity' means that they should do this for lapping cars regardless of their current battle.

"Stewards concluded that Alonso did not do this. Alonso noted in the hearing that there was an opportunity to allow Hamilton to pass on the front straight, but not thereafter until Turn 11. The stewards accepted that there are limited safe places to let a car past between Turns 2 and 9 which contributed to the length of time it took to allow Hamilton past.

"In applying the penalty, the stewards compared this incident to other similar incidents and considered that while a breach, this was less severe than others and that when he did move over he gave plenty of room, and subsequently to Verstappen.

"The stewards therefore applied a reprimand (driving) and two penalty points."

Alonso ultimately finished the race 11th for McLaren, finishing one place off Honda's first F1 point at its home race since returning to the sport in 2015.

"We started 20th and we finished 11th, with a good recovery, with only one pit-stop, and starting on a used set of tyres. That was a pretty huge effort from everyone on the team," Alonso said of his race.

"After the penalty on Friday night, due to the engine change, I think we deserved that one point – we fought hard for it. It was an unlucky situation with Felipe towards the end of the race. He was struggling a lot with his tyres when the Virtual Safety Car came out. That meant he could breathe a little bit during those laps.

"Then, in the last two laps, the leaders of the race caught up with us, and Felipe again missed out on an attack, and ultimately took the point for 10th place."