Alonso clears air with FIA president Ben Sulayem after criticism

In Florida, Alonso dropped out of the points when he was handed a penalty for gaining an advantage by going off track when battling with Mick Schumacher.

Although such penalties cannot be challenged, Alonso and Alpine sporting director Alan Permane went to see the stewards after the race in order to state their case.

Sources have indicated to Autosport that, while Alonso did try to give back the time he had gained, there was a bigger picture at play.

In going off track, he had gained an advantage by dropping Schumacher out of DRS activation, which also put the German under threat from Esteban Ocon in the other Alpine.

In Barcelona on Friday, Alonso made his frustration clear, accusing the stewards of “incompetence”. 

He subsequently had a talk about the matter with Ben Sulayem, who is keen to improve the championship’s race direction and stewarding system.

“I speak with him regularly,” Alonso said after qualifying in Barcelona. “He knew my feedback after Miami already.

“So he was aware of everything. At the end of the day, we are all trying to help each other you know, the FIA, drivers, GPDA, we are all in the same boat, and we try to make the sport more fair and better.

“So I think it was a nice and friendly talk, and we will move forward and hopefully get better and more consistent.”

When asked if he had apologised for his earlier comments Alonso grinned, implying that he hadn’t.

Alonso got involving in a misunderstanding in qualifying with McLaren's Lando Norris

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