Alonso thinks FIA won’t change opinion on Verstappen-Hamilton incident

Verstappen’s robust defence against Hamilton at Interlagos on Lap 48 was initially noted by race director Michael Masi, but it wasn’t referred to the stewards for a full investigation.

After the race, it was revealed that the FIA didn’t have full access to a front-facing camera on Verstappen’s Red Bull meaning it couldn’t assess the incident properly.

On Tuesday, footage from Verstappen’s car was finally released by F1 on its various digital platforms leading Mercedes to announce later that day that it would be formally requesting a review of the incident.

A hearing is set to take place at 5pm local time (2pm GMT) with a Mercedes representative along with three witnesses summoned to the video meeting.

Ahead of this weekend’s Qatar Grand Prix, Alonso was asked to give his view on the incident between F1’s two title rivals.

Despite still not seeing Verstappen’s defensive manoeuvre, Alonso suspects the stewards will not budge on their initial opinion.

“I came from Brazil straight here and I was in the gym and on the beach all these days so I had no opportunity [to watch the incident],” Alonso said in the pre-race press conference.

“Even if I look honestly, I know that here there is hearing or something today. I will not have an opinion because it’s very different from time to time and I don’t know exactly what happened. I guess it will be an incident that is from the past race, nothing should happen now. I don’t know exactly if it was too bad.

“The stewards, they considered that it was no penalty there, it will not be a penalty I guess now.”

As it stands, Verstappen has a 14-point gap over Hamilton with three rounds remaining.