Fernando Alonso had a dream start to the Saudi Arabian GP. However, the joy was short-lived for the 42-year-old as the stewards noted him for an incorrect starting position. It was only when the race progressed to the second lap that the confirmation came in for a 5-second time penalty. Needless to say, his fans are far from amused. Some even accused the FIA of being the “Red Bull Mafia”.

After Max Verstappen‘s driveshaft failure yesterday in the Q2 session, Sergio Perez stepped up to deliver the pole position for the team. Having done that last year as well, Perez continued the good run in Jeddah. However, it did not take him too long to throw away the advantage as Fernando got a much better start.

FIA faces the “Red Bull Mafia” accusations after Fernando Alonso’s penalty

In the season opener race in Bahrain, Esteban Ocon had a pretty similar start to Alonso’s. While the Frenchman went on to take 2 more penalties, the first one was for the same reason as his former teammates.

Until now, it is rather unclear what position the Spaniard violated while standing still in his marker before the start of the race. Have a look at how fans reacted to the FIA’s decision.

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Some fans accused the FIA of rigging the race once again to favor Red Bull. Some similar reactions were seen during the duel between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton in the 2021 season finale.

Some fans accused FIA of favoring Mercedes by handing Alonso the penalty.

A big attraction for the Saudi Arabian GP for some fans was the chance to see Fernando on the top of the podium once again after a very long time. Given Red Bull’s dominance coupled with the time penalty, the prospects of that happening appear very slim.

Another fan accused Red Bull of pulling some strings to get some favor for their drivers.

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Do you think Alonso can still snatch out a win despite the penalty? Drop in your predictions in the comments.