• European Grand Prix

Alonso accuses stewards of manipulating race

ESPNF1 Staff
June 27, 2010
Fernando Alonso was running third before the safety car period © Sutton Images
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A furious Fernando Alonso blamed stewards of manipulating the European Grand Prix after he finished a distant ninth position after losing out during the safety car period.

Alonso was running in third behind McLaren's Lewis Hamilton at the time of Mark Webber's crash but the Briton overtook the safety car and went on to finish second.

Although Hamilton earned a drive-through penalty for his misdemeanour, he kept second place while Alonso dropped out of the points having respected the rules.

"It's a shame, not for us because this is racing, but for all the fans who came here to watch a manipulated race," an angry Alonso told Spanish television after the race. "We were running well, in third after a good start. Then the safety car came out, which wasn't too good for us, but Hamilton overtook the safety car, something that I had never seen, overtaking the medical car with yellow flags. We were a metre off each other, and he finished second and I finished ninth.

"This race was to finish second. Then with the safety car I would have finished where I finished in ninth, and Hamilton in eighth. But here, when you do the normal thing, which is respecting the rules, you finish ninth, and the one who doesn't respect them finishes second."

Showing his frustration in the heat of the moment, Alonso said everything was going against his Ferrari team.

"It must have been very hard to know. They must have taken a lot of laps to see the replay of how he overtook the medical car. But that's how it is. Unfortunately everything goes against us and it seems they are allowing everything."

© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
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