SUZUKA, Japan -- Fernando Alonso was reprimanded and given two penalty points on his superlicence for holding up the leading drivers at the Japanese Grand Prix.
Alonso was in a battle with Felipe Massa for tenth place when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen -- battling for the lead of the race -- attempted to lap him. The McLaren-Honda was shown blue flags at the end of lap 51 to warn him that faster cars were behind, but did not move aside until the hairpin midway through the following lap.
"The stewards examined video evidence, positioning data and heard from Fernando Alonso, the driver of car 14 and the team representative," a stewards' statement said.