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Fernando Alonso Urges F1 to Go the Football Way Amid Rules Controversy

Published 10/29/2021, 3:55 PM EDT

The 2021 United States Grand Prix provided the viewers with an entertaining fight to the finish for the race win, between title contenders Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton. However, that was not all that made the highlights, further down the field, two of the veteran drivers of F1, Kimi Raikkonen, and Fernando Alonso had a memorable fight.

However, after the race, Alonso felt that some moves by Kimi weren’t justified and he called for stricter rules to be implemented and made a strange comparison with football.

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Kimi and Raikkonen battled each other in the US GP

It all started when the Spaniard was overtaken by Kimi Raikkonen in Turn 1. Alonso had pushed Kimi out of the track into the run-off zone when Kimi tried to overtake on the outside. Kimi didn’t back off and kept going on and overtook Alonso either way. The Alpine driver complained that he was overtaken off the track.

Later in the race, Alonso managed to overtake Kimi’s teammate Antonio Giovinazzi, however this time it was Alonso who made the move by running off the track. Alonso then had to give back the position to Antonio.

Meanwhile, there was a lively exchange between Alpine sports director Alan Permane and Race Director Michael Masi. Alan asked Michael in a very passive-aggressive manner, “Michael, can I have confirmation that we can overtake off-track if we pass another car on the outside?”

When Michael said that no, one cannot overtake off the track. Alan complained, “But that is exactly what Raikkonen has just done.” After that, Michael had to confirm more than once that it is not okay, not even for Raikkonen, to overtake outside the track.

This is the second time that Alonso has complained about the unequal treatment of different drivers. The first one was in Sochi where he had complained about why Lando Norris did not get a penalty even though he had not entered the pit entrance as required by the rules.

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Fernando Alonso wants stricter implementation, not stricter rules

Alonso says that there is no need for stricter rules, but there is a requirement for stricter implementation. “I don’t think we need anything new. The rules are clear. But we also have to enforce them,” he says, comparing it to football. “If you play the ball in the penalty area with your hand in football, you get a penalty. There is no need to clarify the rules.”

“You just have to make the decision and say there is a penalty. Otherwise, everyone in the penalty area will play the ball by hand,” said the Spaniard.

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However, it’s not really clear whether the comparison is really good enough, Because, in the game of football, the rule of hand is one of the most controversial rules.

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Written by:

Riddhi Mondal is an F1 author at EssentiallySports. Having previously worked as a student reporter at The Statesman, she is an ardent follower of all things F1. A nerd through and through, the complicated physics that goes into the cars is what drew Riddhi to the sport.

Fernando Alonso Urges F1 to Go the Football Way Amid Rules Controversy

Kimi and Raikkonen battled each other in the US GP

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Fernando Alonso wants stricter implementation, not stricter rules