Fernando Alonso set to take up F1 nationality bias with the FIA president

Fernando Alonso stated he would soon talk to FIA president Mohammed Ben Sulayem regarding nationality bias when it comes to handing out penalties in the sport. This response was triggered after the incident on lap 1 of the 2024 F1 Miami GP sprint race.

In the first lap of the sprint race in Miami, Lance Stroll was slightly ahead of Fernando Alonso as they were racing closely to each other. Since Alonso was on the inside, he had to open the corner a bit, particularly because Lewis Hamilton charged down the inside and tried to overtake several cars at once.

Due to the aggressive dive bomb from Hamilton, both Alonso and Stroll hit each other. Stroll's car then collided with Lando Norris' McLaren as well. This resulted in Stroll and Norris retiring from the race and left Alonso's car with a puncture.

Though the stewards noted all the incidents, they decided not to penalize Lewis Hamilton or any other driver for the chaos on lap 1. This did not sit well with Fernando Alonso. The Spaniard snapped that the fact that Hamilton did not receive a penalty was because he was not Spanish.

Speaking to the media after the race, he said that he needs to talk to FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem regarding nationality bias in the sport. He said he wanted to make sure the current and future generations of Spanish drivers are protected in F1.

"Yeah-yeah, sure. I do feel that nationality matters, and I will speak with Mohammed [Ben Sulayem], with the FIA, whatever. I need to make sure that there is not anything wrong with nationality or anything that can influence any decision - not only for me but also for the future generation of Spanish drivers, they need to be protected," he added.

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Lewis Hamilton's views on turn one incident with Fernando Alonso at the 2024 F1 Miami GP sprint race

Lewis Hamilton also shared his point of view regarding the lap 1 turn 1 incident at the Miami GP sprint race, where he collided with Fernando Alonso while trying to overtake several cars.

Speaking to F1.com, he claimed that he did not want to intentionally make contact with anyone. He explained how he saw a gap and went for it, but how that gap closed up when both Aston Martin drivers went slightly wide and came back towards the apex.

"I feel okay, it's obviously tough battling out there. Of course, turn one, it was not intentional to be touching with anyone but everyone is pushing as much as possible. I went for a gap, but then it...I think those guys went wide and then came back across, so that was when we connected," Hamilton said.

Hamilton was not too concerned about the drive-through penalty he received for speeding in the pitlane since he only lost one point.

"The penalty, it definitely sucks, but its one point," he concluded.

Lewis Hamilton finished in P8 in the sprint race, but the 20-second penalty pushed him down to P16.