Nationality bias in F1? Fernando Alonso levels serious allegation following Miami GP sprint incident

Fernando Alonso has accused the Formula One stewards of harbouring a strong bias against drivers of certain nationalities, especially Spanish, after Lewis Hamilton escaped a penalty for his involvement in the first-lap incident during Saturday's (May 4) sprint race in Miami.

Alonso claimed "nationality" plays a role in the stewards' decisions, adding that he was going to have a chat with the FIA president over the issue.

“I do feel that nationality matters.I will speak with Mohammed (Ben Sulayem, FIA president), with FIA, whatever," said Alonso.

"I need to make sure that there is not anything wrong with my nationality or anything that can influence any decision – not only for me, also for the future generation of Spanish drivers that need to be protected," he added.

While Hamilton escaped any penalty for his actions, the same has not been the case with Alonso lately. The Aston Martin driver was penalised 10 seconds and slapped with three penalty points on his license for crashing into Carlos Sainz during the sprint in Shanghai.

What happened in the sprint?

The incident happened on the first lap as Alonso whacked into the inside of teammate Lance Stroll. While McLaren's Lando Norris was on the outside of the Aston Martin teammates, Hamilton made it a four-into-one scenario by ploughing straight into Alonso, flying up inside at Turn 1.

Hamilton could be heard explaining his team that he'd seen a "gap" and gone for it. However, the commentators points out that the British driver had used the Aston Martin as his breaking point.

While most anticipated a penalty for the seven-time world champions, the stewards justified theirnon-investigation on the grounds no one driver was predominantly to blame and that it was anyway on the first lap, when leniency is exercised.

“While it appeared to us that the incidents began with cars 14 [Alonso] and 18 [Stroll], the sudden and fast arrival of car 44 contributed to the various collisions. However, we were not able to identify one or more drivers wholly or predominantly to blame for the various collisions or any one of them," the stewards said.

Red Bull's Max Verstappen ultimately won the sprint as Alonso had to settle with 15th point on Sunday's starting grid.

Starting grid for the Miami GP:

1. Max Verstappen, Red Bull
2. Charles Leclerc, Ferrari
3. Carlos Sainz, Ferrari
4. Sergio Perez, Red Bull
5. Lando Norris, McLaren
6. Oscar Piastri, McLaren
7. George Russell, Mercedes
8. Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes
9. Nico Hulkenberg, Haas
10. Yuki Tsunoda, RB
11. Lance Stroll, Aston Martin
12. Pierre Gasly, Alpine
13. Esteban Ocon, Alpine
14. Alex Albon, Williams
15. Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin
16. Valtteri Bottas, Sauber
17. Logan Sargeant, Williams
18. Kevin Magnussen, Haas
19. Zhou Guanyu, Sauber
20. Daniel Ricciardo, RB

(With inputs from agencies)