Not since the days of Ayrton Senna has the FIA been publicly hung drawn and quartered by a prominent driver. And the most prominent of them all, Fernando Alonso, did not hold back his opinions when he launched a blistering and uncompromising attack on the FIA, F1’s governing body. Fernando Alonso was speaking to BBC’s F1 correspondent Andrew Benson, ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix weekend.

Alonso called FIA officials incompetent and lacking knowledge of racing. Furthermore, Alonso has witnessed no improvement in the FIA’s restructuring proposal following the controversial race in Abu Dhabi, 2021. Alonso rounded on FIA race stewards over the manner in which he was given a 5-second penalty at the Miami Grand Prix.

The Alpine team presented evidence to the FIA that they say proved Alonso did not contravene any rule. However, the FIA had already issued the penalty and would not rescind it. This incident was not handled in a professional manner, said Alonso.

Alonso also criticized the FIA’s refusal to use impact-absorbing barriers at certain sections of the Miami Grand Prix circuit. The FIA failed to respond accordingly, ignoring complaints during the driver’s briefing and referring to Carlos Sainz’s crash as a “freak accident”.

For a driver of Fernando Alonso’s caliber and standing to speak out vehemently against the FIA is breaking the sport’s unwritten code of conduct. Alonso’s attack on the FIA is a signal that the teams are deeply unhappy with the FIA and its new President Mohammed Ben Sulayem.

Indeed, according to BBC F1 sources, the entire F1 paddock is so dissatisfied with the FIA that it is seeking to reduce the governing body’s influence in running Formula One. You can read the full article by Andrew Benson by clicking the link below.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/61523371