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<\/span><\/span>Fernando Alonso says a penalty he received in the United States Grand Prix raises questions about the direction of the sport under governing body the FIA.<\/span><\/p>\n A protest by Alonso’s Alpine team against the decision to demote him out of the points after he finished seventh in a damaged car will be heard on Thursday. <\/span><\/p>\n<\/div>\n Alonso wrote on Instagram: “It is an important day for the sport as this decision will dictate if we are going in the right direction.”<\/span><\/p>\n Alonso said his post was in response to messages of support since the penalty.<\/span><\/p>\n He thanked those who had contacted him on social media, adding: “It’s one of those rare times in sport that I feel we are all on the same page and share the same opinion towards rules and regulations.”<\/span><\/p>\n Alonso said after the race that he considered his drive one of the best of his career, after he crashed at 180mph, his car did a wheelie, hit a wall, he pitted for a new front wing, resumed at the back and climbed to seventh despite damaged aerodynamic parts.<\/span><\/p>\n The two-time champion has questioned the decision-making of officials on a number of occasions this year, and his frustrations about the inconsistency of policing of action on track are shared by the majority of his fellow drivers.<\/span><\/p>\n At the Spanish Grand Prix, he <\/span>accused the FIA of “incompetence”<\/span><\/a> and lacking knowledge of racing.<\/span><\/p>\n Criticism of the FIA’s running of F1 has been a theme this year, and the US Grand Prix was the race after the governing body angered drivers by <\/span>allowing a recovery vehicle on track<\/span><\/a> in conditions of poor visibility during heavy rain.<\/span><\/p>\n Alpine’s appeal will be heard at 18:00 Mexico City time (12:00 BST) on 27 October before this weekend’s Mexican Grand Prix.<\/span><\/p>\n The team have questioned the US GP stewards’ decision to allow a protest by the Haas team despite it being posted after the permitted time limit had expired.<\/span><\/p>\n The stewards said in their decision to hand Alonso a 30-second penalty on Sunday that the Spaniard’s car was in an unsafe condition because he drove it for some time with a damaged wing mirror, and then without one when it fell off.<\/span><\/p>\n Haas pointed out their cars have previously been given the black-and-orange warning flag – demanding a car is pitted for repairs – on three occasions in similar situations this season.<\/span><\/p>\n At no point during the race were Alpine asked by officials to pit the car and remove the mirror, despite calls from Haas to race control.<\/span><\/p>\n The stewards’ ruling suggests that any car missing a rear-view mirror after an incident will be forced to retire in future.<\/span><\/p>\n There are also questions about the consistency of decision-making, after stewards rejected a similar protest by Haas against Sergio Perez’s Red Bull.<\/span><\/p>\n
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