Editorial: Always late

Fernando Alonso only realized he had lost his place on the podium when he received his trophy for an incident that had occurred an hour earlier, far too late to react, but he finally managed to get back on the podium.

The highlight of the weekend was not Alonso's blistering start ahead of Sergio Perez, but the procedural nightmare that turned his podium finish into controversy. Starting from an unfavorable position on the grid, the Spaniard was handed a five-second penalty, which he served during a routine pit stop. The technical team exceeded the allotted time, but race control issued no warning of non-compliance, finally issuing a second warning two laps from the finish, far too late to take corrective action.

Alonso's team then asked him to push hard enough to create a five-second gap over the fourth car in the hope of preserving his position. Although he crossed the finish line in third place, he was given a ten-second penalty after the ceremony, which cost him his podium finish and allowed George Russell to replace him, with the latter having to answer questions from the press.

A few hours later, the FIA reversed its decision, reinstating Alonso in third place and issuing an explanation that highlighted the stewards' delayed response. Critics argue that with the wealth of telemetry data and images available, the error should have been spotted instantly, citing the incident involving Esteban Ocon in Bahrain, where a team error was identified immediately.

This episode also reignited the debate about the deployment of the safety car when Lance Stroll retired; the Canadian's car was already off the track and posed no immediate danger, making the intervention unnecessary. This series of missteps has reignited calls for faster and more transparent management procedures in Formula 1.