'I Thought It Was Gone': Alonso After Achieving Podium By 0.053 Seconds In Front Of Perez
F1
Aston Martin F1 driver Fernando Alonso achieved the eighth podium of the season for his team during the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.
Fernando Alonso started the race from the fourth position on the grid after a messy qualifying session on Friday. The Spaniard got into the third position early on in the race.
However, his main challenge came in the last part of the race when Sergio Perez on Red Bull, who started from ninth place on the grid, caught up with him.
Alonso and Perez stole the show during the final laps of the race, battling for the third position. In the end, Alonso managed to win the drag race to the line from the last corner by 0.053 seconds.
The two-time World Champion gave credit to the Mexican driver after the end of the race for hard but clean racing. He told Sky Sports F1:
"It was nice, it was a clean battle – very aggressive but clean battle always with Checo. I think he has a very good record finishing the races and always battling hard but keeping both cars on track."
Perez closed the gap to Alonso to less than 2 seconds 40 laps before the end of the race. But then, it seemed like Alonso managed the gap with ease, and Checo would not get the chance to get into DRS.
"I knew that he was coming, I knew that he was a threat and at the end it was maybe more difficult than I thought, to be honest."
After Perez went into the pits on lap 47, Alonso still felt confident and said on the team radio he did not need to cover the possible undercut by Sergio Perez. In the end, his team called Alonso to box, which turned out to be the right decision.
"Five laps to the end, I thought that he is under control, so I started pushing and then I look at the mirror and Checo was there and I said, ‘Oh no’ – I think he was saving tires as well, so he will be a strong contender for the podium."
Perez managed to overtake the Aston Martin driver one lap before the end of the race but made a mistake on the final lap, which allowed Alonso to get back into third position.
"At the end, I’m happy that we did it. I think, for the team, we were struggling a lot in the last two races, but we never lost focus on what was the target."
When reflecting on the battle with Perez on the final laps of the race, Alonso revealed he thought it was all lost at one point: "So, unexpected to be honest. When I lost the place, I thought it was gone."
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