The Sao Paulo GP weekend is now over, but the famous race at Interlagos did not disappoint yet again. With a lot at stake, each driver took to the track in hopes of maximizing their points haul, but little did Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso know they would have to fight one of the closest battles of the year for P3. With Alonso coming out on top in the end, the duo shared a heartwarming moment after the race as Checo came in to hug the veteran. Alonso also said a few words to Perez, which the Spaniard revealed right after.
Narración en italiano de la maravilla de Fernando Alonso. 🇮🇹
En Italia también le llaman el mago o algo así he entendido.pic.twitter.com/Fg9ATQJZaX
— NanoGrifo (@NanoGrifo) November 5, 2023
Having started the race in P4, Alonso soon found himself in P3 after the race restarted. He was then having a fairly easy race until Perez climbed the ranks to go P4. The battle was on after this. Lap after lap, the Mexican would aggressively approach Alonso to try and overtake him, but the veteran driver displayed top-notch defense.
However, Perez broke through the barrier in the 70th lap of the 71-lap race. The commentators thought P3 was Perez’s but Alonso kept his car right behind Perez and put the Mexican under immense pressure. Turn 4 came, and Alonso deployed a great maneuver to take back his podium rank.
As the two cars crossed the finish line, only 0.053 seconds separated them. Speaking to the media after the race, Alonso stopped to greet Perez and ask him not to put him under the same pressure again, as seen in a video uploaded on X by ‘Nini.’
“I told him don’t put me under this stress anymore, you know, because I’m not 20-years-old anymore.”
Having performed immensely well in an Aston Martin seemingly not up to the task, Alonso was over the moon with his result in Sao Paolo. The feature race marked the second time this weekend that an Aston Martin outperformed the RB19 of Perez.
Fernando Alonso put in a performance similar to the early days of the season
Capping off a strong weekend, Alonso enjoyed an easy-going race in P3 until Perez decided to spice things up. Looking to secure as many points as possible, the Mexican pushed himself and the Spaniard to the brink until they crossed the Chequered Flag, almost neck to neck. Having grabbed one of the toughest podiums of his career, the look on Alonso’s face seemed like he had just secured the elusive ‘number 33.’
Keep calm and carry on. 💪. We don’t give up . @AstonMartinF1 #f1 #brazil #astonMartin pic.twitter.com/7C9WIBwQjq
— Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) November 5, 2023
After an unexpectedly strong start to the season, Aston Martin suffered from a drastic fall in performance, giving way to other teams to catch up. However, with the feature race in Sao Paulo, the team once again showed how good they have been this year, fending off a challenge from an in-form Sergio Perez driving an RB19, giving them the confidence to look at the 2024 season with hope. While Alonso took the final podium spot, Lance Stroll also had a strong race, finishing in P5 behind Perez and ahead of Carlos Sainz and Lewis Hamilton.
