Five-second penalty, unchanged outcome
Fernando Alonso clarified the cause of his jump start in the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, revealing he released the clutch in reaction to Oscar Piastri ahead: “Unfortunately, I reacted to Oscar.” Both drivers moved early, with Alonso receiving a five-second penalty and finishing 15th.
Pace, not penalty, defined Aston Martin’s day
Alonso maintained the infringement didn’t alter his final result given Aston Martin’s struggles at the Baku City Circuit. Team-mate Lance Stroll finished 17th as both cars battled a lack of outright pace on a day when low tyre degradation locked most of the field into straightforward one-stop strategies.
Team reaction
Aston Martin’s trackside chief Mike Krack summed up the challenge: “There were very few opportunities in the race and points were out of reach… Both drivers pushed hard, but ultimately we were missing outright pace. We will head back to Silverstone, regroup and come back stronger in Singapore.”
