The end-of-the-season awards gala in Baku saw Fernando Alonso pick up his final piece of silverware for the 2023 season as he won the ‘Action of the Year’ award. The nail-biting battle between Alonso and Sergio Perez in the dying stages of the Brazilian GP made way for the Asturian becoming the crowd favorite for the win.
Speaking about the same, quoted by F1 Maximaal, the 42-year-old thanked all those who voted for him to win the award. Alonso added he wanted to share the award with the Mexican since the battle involved both of them, and Perez played a crucial role in their on-track battle.
“I would like to share this award with Sergio, because it takes two drivers for a fight. Hopefully we’ll have more of these fights next year.”
A late surge in Brazil saw a heated battle unravel between Alonso and Perez for P3. While Perez overtook Alonso in the second last lap of the race, Alonso kept his car within the streamline range, and mid-way through the last lap, he made his move to reclaim the position. However, the battle was still on as both cars nearly finished side by side, with Alonso barely passing the finish line ahead of Perez. In the end, Alonso finished P3 with a margin of only 0.05 seconds.
Throughout the battle, neither driver pulled off any ‘dirty’ moves on the other, exemplifying the concept of ‘pure racing.’ Fans loved every moment of it, with many expressing their appreciation over various social media websites. Heading into the next season, Alonso hopes he will have the opportunity to engage in similar battles, hopefully emerging as the winner in all of them.
Even Sergio Perez loved his bout with Fernando Alonso
Despite emerging as the loser in the battle, Perez had no regrets over the results in Brazil. Instead, he was full of praise for his Aston Martin rival, appreciating his clean driving. He added that Alonso likes to play games out on the track but always keeps things fair and “that’s really good, because how hard we race each other with always a lot of room, I think with very few drivers you can do this on the grid.”
Perez also said that he thought whoever would win the podium position deserved it completely, and Alonso’s driving only made it more impressive. Following the race, F1 even posted a photo of Perez and Alonso embracing each other for a tremendous battle, earning appreciation from fans of the sport from all over the globe.
