Alpine believes it would have been able overturn Fernando Alonso’s post-race penalty in Miami, finding it “difficult to accept” losing a double points finish.

Alonso finished eighth on the road in the inaugural Miami Grand Prix only to be demoted to ninth place having received a five-second time penalty for an earlier collision with AlphaTauri’s Pierre Gasly.

But the two-time world champion was given a further five-second penalty after the race by the FIA stewards for leaving the track and gaining an advantage, dropping him out of the points.

Alonso had been found to have cut the Turn 14 chicane on Lap 53, which had allowed him to move out of DRS range from the Haas of Mick Schumacher behind.

Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi hit out at the decision to penalise Alonso, claiming it had the evidence to prove the Spaniard had given the time gained back but was not able to clarify this with the stewards.

“A disappointing post-race penalty for Fernando for leaving the track and gaining an advantage means our six points at the chequered flag turned into four points and it has cost us a deserved double points finish,” Rossi said in a statement issued by Alpine on social media on Wednesday.

“This one is certainly difficult to accept since Fernando handed back the time during the lap and we were not able to present the evidence to clarify the particular situation before the penalty was issued.

“With the opportunity to explain, we’re very confident Fernando would have kept his ninth place.

“We’ll go again next weekend in Spain where we’re determined to piece together a much slicker and, a more fair, race weekend and demonstrate the real potential of our package.”

Alonso’s time penalty means he has scored just two points from the opening five races this season, marking his worst start to a campaign since 2017 when racing for McLaren.

Williams driver Alex Albon was promoted up to ninth place once Alonso’s penalty was applied in the final classification, which allowed the Anglo-Thai driver leap ahead of Alonso in the drivers’ standings, while Lance Stroll also moved into the top-10.