Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso celebrated his 100th Formula 1 podium on Sunday after Saudi Arabian Grand Prix stewards reversed a penalty decision that had demoted him from third to fourth.
The stewards said in a statement they had reviewed new evidence presented by the team, including video footage showing seven similar previous incidents where teams had not been penalised.
The decision meant Mercedes’s George Russell dropped back to fourth from third.
Alonso said in Aston Martin’s post-race statement: “I am happy in the end with the result tonight and our second podium.
Aston Martin proving to be the second fastest team
“We showed that we can be the second fastest team and we had good pace throughout the race. It was my mistake at the start with the position on the grid, but we pushed to make up that time. Coming into this weekend we were not sure exactly where we would be, so this is good news for us going into the next few races.
“I am looking forward to Australia next,” the 2005 and 2006 F1 Champion concluded.
Aston Martin Team Principal Mike Krack added: “It is very satisfying to score our second podium of the year with Fernando here in Jeddah.
“It is Fernando’s 100th career podium, which is a very impressive milestone,” he pointed out.
“The car has been competitive throughout the weekend and we showed strong race pace once again tonight. Full credit to everyone in the team for their hard work this week,” Krack concluded. (Reporting by Alan Baldwin, additional reporting by GrandPrix247)