The FIA announced on Sunday night that following a review, they had reinstated Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula One Team’s Fernando Alonso’s third-place finish at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The news means that the Spaniard has scored 100 career podium finishes during his Formula One career. Speaking following the race, Alonso said:
“I am happy in the end with the result tonight and our second podium. 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.”
Lance Stroll who suffered a DNF commented saying:
“It was disappointing to retire from the Grand Prix after such a promising weekend. I had a great start and really enjoyed overtaking Carlos [Sainz] around the outside of Turn 13. We were in a good position on track and I was having fun pushing, but then I started experiencing reduced power and got the call to stop the car. It is not the result we wanted, but we leave Saudi Arabia knowing that we have a very competitive car and we will pick up the fight next time out in Australia.”
Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team Principal Mike Krack said:
“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. 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. It is a real shame that Lance was forced to retire early with an energy recovery issue, the cause of which is still being investigated, because he had strong pace and would surely have scored big points tonight as well.”
The Silverstone-based outfit head to Australia in second place in the Constructors Championship.