Fernando Alonso agrees with Max Verstappen about Lewis Hamilton's potential penalties

Fernando Alonso has made it abundantly clear that he is not a big admirer of Lewis Hamilton and the dominant Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team. He again voiced his opinion over their power unit advantage, that nullifies any grid penalty they receive when they exceed their limit.

Hamilton took a ten-place grid penalty at the Turkish Grand Prix for a new power unit, and went on to finish fifth. The Mercedes team then changed the seven-time F1 champion's Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) again at the Brazilian Grand Prix, which earned him a five-place grid penalty, but it hardly made a difference in the outcome of the race.

The British racer stormed through the field and was up to second by the time Lap 20 came along and on Lap 59, he took over at the front from Max Verstappen to go on to comfortably win the race. The new ICE handed the Mercedes driver a considerable straight line speed advantage, which saw him breeze past every other car on the grid.

Verstappen, who is battling Hamilton for the 2021 F1 title, believes, Mercedes can now afford to give the Briton a new ICE for every race since the advantage gained completely nullifies the penalty involved. The Mercedes driver will again have the services of his "spicy engine" from Brazil at the Saudi Arabia Grand Prix this weekend, which should make them favourites ahead of Red Bull Racing.

"In theory, Mercedes can put in a new combustion engine every Grand Prix, take five places penalty and benefit from the power boost," Verstappen said, as quoted on GP Blog.

Alonso agreed with Verstappen's assessment and feels that Hamilton and the Mercedes team should be sent to the back of the grid if they do take on another new power unit before the end of the season. He feels any team that exceeds their limit in terms of engine parts, should be sent straight to the back of the grid when they take on new parts.

The Spaniard, who is a two-time champion, has always been critical of the dominance asserted by Mercedes since the start of the Hybrid Era. It was one of the reasons Alonso left the sport at the end of the 2018 season before returning this year. With the new rules next season, he is hoping there is a change in the pecking order.