“Tell Esteban to defend like a lion”– Fernando Alonso instructs Esteban Ocon to return his Hungary favour at Qatar

As Fernando Alonso chases P3 at Qatar Grand Prix, he calls on his teammate Esteban Ocon to defend the Red Bull behind him.

The two-time world champion Fernando Alonso stormed through the track and finished on the 3rd position at the Qatar GP. The last time when Alonso finished on a pole position was in 2014. Towards the end of the race, Alonso called on his teammate to help him secure the pole position.

On the team radio, Alonso said, “tell Esteban to defend like a lion.” Meanwhile, Ocon’s battle for the 4th position ended pretty quickly as Red Bull’s Sergio Perez overtook him.

However, the french driver still tried to fight back, but he failed. Earlier at the Hungarian GP, Alonso had defended Ocon for 10 laps against Hamilton.

Also Read: Red Bull blames the light panel on the track for Max Verstappen’s 5-place grid penalty in maiden Qatar GP

Fernando Alonso fell in love with the Losail Circuit

The 40-year-old produced his best qualifying performance this year by securing P5 on the grid. He fell in love with the track and was also completely satisfied with the performance of his car in the qualifying session.

After the qualifying race, Alonso said, “it was fantastic. I think the car performed really well, all weekend not only in qualifying, and it was very enjoyable to drive. If the team had put in enough fuel I could be all night long driving here,” he further added.

“I think there are certain circuits that seem to be better for our package, this is one of those and let’s see tomorrow. Saturday doesn’t mean much, it’s a good starting position but the points are given tomorrow and we need to maximise this position.”

Losail circuit is much better known for MotoGP racing, but Alonso is clearly thrilled that Formula 1 fitted it into this year’s schedule as a late replacement for the Australian Grand Prix.

Also Read: Lewis Hamilton reacts to Max Verstappen getting five-place grid penalty