Once again, the final result of a Formula 1 race was as clear as mud to absolutely everybody for several hours after it had actually ended.
Fernando Alonso finished third in the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix – well, for about 20 minutes. Then he was told, despite having already stood on the podium and collected his trophy, that he had been given a post-race time penalty.
Even George Russell, who benefitted from that punishment, was surprised. Alonso was furious – not necessarily over the penalty itself, but that it had taken the last 35 laps of the race plus the podium ceremony for the stewards to decide that he was deserving of one.
