Alonso's 100th podium finish reinstated as Aston Martin win Saudi Arabia appeal

Fernando Alonso's 100th podium finish in Formula One has been reinstated after Aston Martin appealed a decision to hand him a 10-second penalty at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Alonso celebrated consecutive third-placed finishes on Sunday, having taken the lead from Sergio Perez early on before receiving a five-second penalty for an incorrect starting position on the grid.

The Spaniard recovered to finish behind Red Bull duo Perez and Max Verstappen, but an investigation after the race concluded he had not served his full five-second punishment while in the pit lane.

Mercedes' George Russell moved up to third after an Aston Martin engineer was said to have placed the rear jack on the back of Alonso's car just before the end of his penalty.

Alonso subsequently claimed that decision "didn't hurt too much" but criticised a "poor show" from the FIA, though the two-time world champion will be more content after his team's appeal was successful.

The outcome of Aston Martin's bid to reverse the penalty was announced shortly after 1am in Jeddah, confirming Alonso's century of podium finishes.

Alonso is just the sixth driver to reach that figure, after Lewis Hamilton (191), Michael Schumacher (155), Sebastian Vettel (122), Alain Prost (106) and Kimi Raikkonen (103).

Race stewards said they were shown footage of seven similar incidents in which cars were touched by the jack while serving a time penalty – all of which went unpunished – as part of the appeal.