FIA announce PENALTY for F1 champion at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

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Azerbaijan Grand Prix

FIA announce PENALTY for F1 champion at Azerbaijan Grand Prix

The race in Baku got off to a chaotic start

Kerry Violet F1 News Editor

F1 editor and journalist covering motorsport since 2024.

Sunday 21 September 2025 13:28 Updated: 20:46

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An F1 champion has been handed an FIA penalty by the stewards at the 2025 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

Fernando Alonso, champion in 2005 and 2006, was caught out at the very start of the race in Baku.

The drivers lined up on the grid at Sunday's race in an unusual order, with reigning champion Max Verstappen on pole and the Williams of Carlos Sainz alongside him on the front row.

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Racing Bulls star Liam Lawson rounded out the top three in Saturday's qualifying, with the usual contenders of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri starting way back in P7 and P9 respectively.

And things went from bad to worse for McLaren's championship leader after Piastri jumped the start at lights out before crashing out of the grand prix entirely before even completing the first lap.

But it wasn't just the Aussie racer who was impacted by his mistake, with his premature reaction time catching out Aston Martin driver Alonso, who also jumped the start.

Alonso fooled by Piastri Baku error

On Sky F1's live broadcast of the race, pundit Karun Chandhok was not only shocked at the rookie mistake from Piastri but also the fact that Alonso appeared to have been caught out by the McLaren's error as well.

Unsure whether the Spaniard had also jumped the start or not, Chandhok declared that Alonso would face a 'slam dunk penalty' if he was found to have got off the line early.

After it was confirmed that Alonso had also jumped the start, he was informed of his time penalty over team radio, with the 44-year-old accepting the decision.

"Yeah, copy. Yeah I reacted to Piastri, sorry," he admitted.

As a result of the mistake, Alonso was slapped with a five-second time penalty, with the Aston Martin star set to serve the punishment in the pits during the race.

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