F1 Today | Alonso’s penalty, Hamilton would give his seat to Vettel
General
During the first day at the Suzuka Circuit, journalists had a 'go to question' to ask every driver: What do you think about Fernando Alonso’s 20-second penalty that the Spaniard received two weeks ago in Melbourne. Lewis Hamilton also talked about the seat he will give up come the end of 2024.
Drivers debate Alonso’s penalty
If you are a Formula One driver, you had to answer this question today. During F1’s press conference, one of the protagonists, George Russell, Carlos Sainz and Max Verstappen all explained their thoughts.
Fernando Alonso was also in the paddock to explain his thoughts for several minutes until Aston Martin’s media person said no more questions about this topic.
Here, you can also find a spectrum of how different drivers reacted.
Hamilton wouldn’t mind giving his seat to Vettel
After some rumours the other day about Sebastian Vettel returning to F1, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton was asked about who he would like to have his seat next season. The Briton believes Mercedes should hire "someone with integrity," and believes his good friend and former rival Vettel ticks all the boxed.
Alonso also talked about another so-called 'candidate' for the Mercedes seat, Max Verstappen, even though Toto Wolff might want that move more than the Dutchman himself.
Williams remain with one chassis until Miami
Logan Sargeant has confirmed that he will have race with Alex Albon's repaired chassis for now, and the team will not have a backup chassis until the Miami Grand Prix. "The workload to switch the cars back over would just be far too much for the mechanics. But yes, the chassis repaired went better than expected. It should be perfectly normal as far as I'm aware," the American added.
FIA stand by Mohammed Ben Sulayem
FIA have published an open letter on President Mohammed Ben Sulayem, underlining they are standing by the Emirati. You can find the content of the latter by clicking here.