The Sao Paulo GP saw an intense battle for P3 as Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez went toe to toe for the final podium place only for the Spaniard to emerge victorious. Following the race, as per a report by Auto Motor Und Sport, Alonso revealed how keeping Perez confused with his tactics helped him claim P3 in the race.
Alonso explained that his main strategy was to confuse Perez regarding which racing line was the best. Alonso explained, “Sometimes I drove further, sometimes narrower. So as not to give him any indication of what the best line was for me. He always tried it the other way round and kept driving into bad air as a result.”
💥🗣️| Fernando Alonso said that he was always trying to confuse Perez with new racing lines:
“Sometimes I drove further, sometimes narrower, so as not to give him any indication of what the best line was for me. He always tried it the other way round and kept driving into bad… pic.twitter.com/ifwWk8iVBR
— Aston Martin Formula 1 News (@AMF1News) November 6, 2023
Alonso explained that he had a slight advantage because he had better aerodynamics as he was in front. He used that to his advantage and Perez failed to keep up with him through the Turn 11-12-13 complex. “I just had to make sure that I didn’t make any mistakes there and that I had full battery power for the straight,” said Alonso.
The battle raged on for about 20 laps or so before it came down to the final lap where Perez and Alonso had a drag race to the finish line. The 42-year-old driver somehow managed to hold on and took the podium with Perez finishing only 0.053 seconds behind him.
👀 #BrazilGP #Alonso #Perez #F1 pic.twitter.com/PMBXGZQDjG
— F1 Images (@F1_Images) November 6, 2023
The fight to the very end wasn’t just intense for the fans to watch but also for the drivers involved as well. Following the race, Alonso joked in the media pen that he won’t be able to do much more of these since he’s not 20 years old anymore.
Sergio Perez would be happy despite of losing P3 to Fernando Alonso
In the heat of the battle, Perez made a few mistakes as well, as pointed out by Helmut Marko following the race. The Red Bull patriarch said, “The mistake was that he didn’t come out of Turn 3 properly. Then, he just made a small move on the start-finish straight on the way to Turn 1.”
Fernando Alonso and Checo Perez post-race #BrazilGP #F1 pic.twitter.com/575sQJ7sxX
— F1 To Rule Them All (@F1RulesMedia) November 5, 2023
However, Perez will be satisfied despite losing out on the podium because Mercedes had a howler in Brazil. With Hamilton finishing P8 and claiming a meager 4 points, Perez managed to extend his lead in P2 to 32 points with two race weekends to go.
As of now, a 1-2 in the constructor’s championship seems all but confirmed for Red Bull. However, rumors regarding Perez’s future in the team are not over yet. Whether his future at Red Bull is secure or not, only time will tell.
