Alpine breaks a first curfew
The Alpine mechanics worked late into the night from Friday, March 17th to Saturday, March 18th, as part of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
They are the first ones to have broken curfew this season. Alpine violated this rule established by the FIA, allowing mechanics to have a minimum amount of rest time between two working days. However, the Federation allows for some flexibility.
On the night of Friday, March 17th to Saturday, March 18th, the French team’s staff was still present in the Jeddah stands. For this night work, Alpine is using the first of its two allotted wildcards during period three. Therefore, the team will not incur any penalties. As a reminder, the F1 sporting regulations state that there are three different curfew periods, each with several exceptions. Article 23.7 specifies:
Curfew 1: Begins 42 hours before the start of FP1 and ends 29 hours before.
Curfew 2: Starts 18 hours before the start of FP1 and ends 4 hours before.
Curfew 3: Starts 13 hours before the beginning of FP3 and ends 3 hours before.
