Source : @F1
Formula 1 has looked back at one of the most remarkable recoveries in recent United States Grand Prix history ahead of this weekend’s return to Austin: Fernando Alonso’s charge to seventh place in 2022 after a high-speed collision that launched his car into the air.
In a video shared on X, Formula 1 wrote: “A race-ending collision in Austin… UNLESS. Unless you’re Fernando Alonso, who recovered to finish an unbelievable seventh after this!” The 41-second clip had drawn more than 500,000 views and nearly 7,000 likes at the time of writing.
Airborne at the Circuit of the Americas
Driving for Alpine in 2022, Alonso started 14th at the Circuit of the Americas after taking a five-place grid penalty for exceeding his allocation of power unit components. He made steady progress on the hard tyre and used a Safety Car, triggered when Valtteri Bottas spun into the gravel, to make a cheap pit stop.
At the restart, Alonso attacked Lance Stroll’s Aston Martin for seventh. Stroll made a late defensive move and the two collided, sending Alonso’s Alpine rearing into the air before it struck the barrier. Stroll’s race ended on the spot, but Alonso, to his own surprise, was able to continue.
He pitted for another set of hard tyres, rejoined in 17th and then carved his way back through the field, overtaking Kevin Magnussen to reclaim seventh at the chequered flag. “I was amazed that the car managed to complete the 31 laps until the end, and we still finished in P7 after being in P17, so it was a good race,” Alonso said afterwards. Max Verstappen won the race, sealing the constructors’ championship for Red Bull.
A penalty, an appeal and a reprieve
The drama did not end at the flag. Haas protested on the grounds that Alonso had finished in an unsafe car, as his right-hand mirror had worked loose after the crash and eventually fell off. The stewards agreed and handed him a 30-second post-race penalty, dropping him to 15th and costing him six points.
Alpine fought back through a right of review, arguing that Haas had lodged its protest 24 minutes after the 30-minute deadline. At a hearing in Mexico City, the stewards ruled the original protest inadmissible because Haas could have submitted a handwritten protest in time. The penalty was declared null and void, and Alonso’s seventh place and six points were reinstated. Stroll, meanwhile, received a three-place grid penalty for the following race in Mexico for his part in the collision.
The stewards also voiced concern that Alonso had been allowed to stay on track with a loose mirror assembly and recommended that procedures be put in place to monitor such situations.
A tougher return to Texas in 2026
Four years on, Alonso returns to Austin in very different circumstances. Now 45 and racing for Aston Martin, where Stroll is his team-mate, the two-time world champion is 17th in the drivers’ standings with seven points after the Singapore Grand Prix, where he finished 16th following an engine-related grid drop.
Alonso had said the turbo in his Honda power unit was “broken” in Singapore, although Honda’s chief trackside engineer Shintaro Orihara told Motorsport Week the data had not shown “any big issues”. Honda has promised to check that every component is “working correctly” before the United States Grand Prix, which the Circuit of the Americas lists as running from 22 to 25 October.
Whether or not Aston Martin can find a breakthrough this weekend, Formula 1’s throwback is a reminder that Austin has a habit of producing the unexpected, and that Alonso is rarely out of a fight until the very last lap.
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