The FIA stewards have rejected Alpine's appeal against the penalty meted out to Fernando Alonso following the United States Grand Prix which saw him demoted from 7th to 15th.

In the aftermath of the race, Haas protested the cars of Alonso and Sergio Perez claiming that both had continued racing despite being in an unsafe condition following incidents.

While the protest against the Red Bull was dismissed, that against the Alpine was upheld and as a result Alonso was handed a time penalty which dropped him out of the points.

Alpine immediately responded by appealing the decision, while Alonso warned that upholding it would "open a box" that F1 doesn't want to open, in terms of the timing of Haas' protest - which was after the usual deadline - and the fact that his car had been effectively cleared by the FIA as safe.

"The FIA was not showing me the black and orange flag," said the Spaniard at today's press conference. "So, they felt that the car was safe to keep driving.

"The car went to parc ferme, passed all the scrutineering," he continued. "Green light on parc ferme, and then the protests arrive too late.

"So, between all, I think there is no doubt that this was not the right decision to take. And if this is the right decision to take, it will open a huge problem for the future in Formula 1.

"I think fifty, sixty, seventy per cent of the cars will have to retire the car when they have an aerodynamic device that is not properly fixed because it's going to be unsafe, the car. It will open also... if 20 minutes too late is okay to protest, is one month too late? Is one hour too late? Is 10 years too late? When is too late?

"So that, I think, we cannot afford. So, as I said, this is a very important day for our sport. I don't care about seventh, I'm not fighting for the World Championship, but if this goes ahead, I think we will open a very... we don't want to open that box," he warned.

However, the stewards today ruled Alpine's protest inadmissible as the International Sporting Code states that teams cannot protest a decision made by the stewards, and the French team should have instead lodged an appeal with the FIA International Court of Appeal.

"To do that it would have to have given notice of intention to appeal to the Stewards within one hour of the Decision, as prescribed in the FIA International Sporting Code and the FIA Judicial and Disciplinary Rules," said the stewards, who also pointed out that Alpine's protest was over an hour after the initial decision was made.

"Alternatively, should a significant and new element be discovered (by Alpine), it could petition the Stewards under Article 14 of the Code, for a review. That option remains available for 14 days after the end of the Competition."

Alpine subsequently lodged a right of review against the initial decision that deemed Haas' protest admissible, the hearing scheduled for later today.