THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
VALENCIA, Spain — Fernando Alonso said the European Grand Prix had been "manipulated" and his Ferrari team called the race "a scandal" after the Spanish driver slipped several places following the introduction of a safety car Sunday.
Alonso was third before the safety car came on after a spectacular crash involving Mark Webber on lap nine.
Lewis Hamilton was handed a drive-through sanction for overtaking the safety car and still managed to hold onto second place behind Sebastian Vettel. Alonso, however, slipped down the field to finish ninth before moving up a place to eighth after time penalties were handed to several drivers for infringements.
"We were running well, in third after a good start," Alonso said. "Then the safety car came out, which wasn’t too good for us, but Hamilton overtook the safety car, something that I had never seen, overtaking the medical car with yellow flags," Alonso said. "We were a metre off each other, and he finished second and I finished ninth.
"This race was to finish second. Then with the safety car I would have finished where I finished in ninth, and Hamilton in eighth. But here, when you do the normal thing, which is respecting the rules, you finish ninth, and the one who doesn’t respect them finishes second."
Alonso said he was particularly disappointed for fans at the circuit.
"It’s a shame, not for us because this is racing, but for all the fans who came here to watch a manipulated race," he said.
Ferrari spoke out on its website, saying: "A scandal, that’s the opinion of so many fans and employees who are all in agreement: there is no other way to describe what happened during the European Grand Prix.
"The way the race and the incidents during it were managed raise doubts that could see Formula 1 lose some credibility again, as it was seen around the world."
In a statement, Hamilton responded by saying: "I took my penalty — it’s quite a long time to spend at 60 kilometres an hour in the pitlane — and I came out second…I don’t see how that’s unfair — it’s racing, and those are the rules, and we all have to accept them."
Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali played down Alonso’s talk of the race being "manipulated," saying the driver had been "in a hot moment."
However, he said Ferrari had asked the sport’s governing body, the FIA, after the race to revise the regulations concerning the safety car.
Domenicali said the delay in sanctioning Hamilton for overtaking the safety car had allowed Hamilton to build up enough of a lead over Kamui Kobayashi to take the drive-through penalty without losing second position.
"We have already taken up this matter with the FIA," Domenicali said. "The result is closed and it is finished.
"For the future we have to make sure that the things we have been discussing will not happen again."
Alonso has harsh words for European GP
