Verstappen Admits He 'Almost Drove Off The Track' Watching Perez vs Alonso Battle

Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 07:00

Updated at Tuesday, 07 November 2023 at 12:23

Red Bull Racing F1 driver Max Verstappen almost went off the track when he saw his teammate Sergio Perez and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso fighting for third place.

The battle between Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso was the most exciting part of the 2023 Sao Paulo Grand Prix at Interlagos Circuit.

The Mexican driver and the Spanish matador fought a very long and hard but fair battle for about 15 laps until the end of the race.

Checo, on a Red Bull, seemed to have more pace compared to the Spaniard but could not get ahead of him by the end of the straight.

On the other hand, Alonso could not hold faster Perez behind him forever and got overtaken one lap before the end of the race. That's when he thought everything was lost, but he did not give up.

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With the help of DRS, Alonso was able to overtake Perez to regain his third position on the final lap of the race. The two then raced from the turn 12 to the finish line, and Alonso finished ahead mere 0.053 seconds in the end.

These were fascinating scenes not only for F1 fans watching from home but also for Max Verstappen in the race lead, who watched the battle on the screens on the side of the track. The Dutchman told Viaplay.

"The last few laps I was watching - I almost drove off the track myself when I saw them fighting on the straight."

Both Perez and Alonso said they really enjoyed the battle, and Verstappen agreed, saying it was very nice. Maybe the three-time World Champion got reminded of the good old days when he battled with Lewis Hamilton in almost every single race in 2021.

"At Turn 4 I almost drove straight off the track because I was watching the screens so much. It was very close together, but those last two laps they were also constantly changing. Very nice."