Written by Alis Manriquez, Edited by Vyas Ponnuri
What an incredible race we witnessed at the Brazilian GP! As we know very well by now, the Sao Paulo circuit never disappoints, and has long been known for its sectors, with long straights and tight curves, capable of delivering constant excitement and incredible battles.
It was business as usual for Max Verstappen though, the Dutch champion cruising to yet another victory, a record 17th of the season, Lando Norris settled for second place (yet again), taking the point for the fastest lap, and the accolade of “driver of the day”
Although, a familiar face occupied the final step of the podium. Fernando Alonso was back on the podium with Aston Martin, after almost six races, since Zandvoort, and participating in the most interesting battle of the 71 laps of the circuit. Something similar to 18 years ago at Imola, with the duel between the clever Spaniard, and the seven-time champion Michael Schumacher.
The first metres of the start were somewhat complex for the Spaniard, losing a position to Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes, a driver with whom there would later be multiple opportunities for overtaking on both sides.
After the resumption of an unusual start on the starting grid, Fernando Alonso resumed his position, overtaking the Mercedes in turn four, and ascending to the podium positions.
Meanwhile, on lap eight, Lando Norris tried to attack, with 0.111 thousandths with DRS on Max Verstappen. Unfortunately it was not enough to pass the world champion, who knew how to maintain the rope to secure first place on the podium. After that, the McLaren began to lose a lot of time per lap, being almost four thousandths slower than the Aston Martin, providing an excellent opportunity for Alonso to get closer.
On the other hand, Sergio Perez showed an unbeatable and constant turn of great speed. The Mexican driver managed to battle to overtake both Mercedes, until he climbed to fourth place.
The Aston Martin team decided to go with medium compounds for both AMR23s, a decision that worked for teammate Lance Stroll, who managed to fend off and also pass the two Mercedes, who fell down the order as the race progressed. As for Alonso, after he joined with the medium compound, he lost a few seconds that were an opportunity for Peréz to close the gap, a driver who had stopped in the pits earlier for a change of medium tires like Fernando.
Both drivers maintained a long and constant fight for third place, maintaining a distance of just over a second for several laps, the Aston racer defending from the Mexican by having better traction in certain corners, until lap number 70.
After trying and pressuring the Spaniard, the Red Bull managed to overtake the Aston Martin in the “Senna S”. The fight for third place continued in the second DRS zone. The Spaniard opened the DRS by cutting outside to manage to counterattack.
However, on the final lap, Alonso would make the move stick on Perez, and fending him off through the infield, it would be a drag race to the line to see who would take third place.
The distance was minimal, only 0.053s between them, but that meant that Fernando Alonso finally took third place on the podium. After going to the limit on the track, the drivers hugged and praised each other for such an incredible drive.
"It was a very tough race with Fernando, I lost a lot of time at the start and then I think we made a mistake stopping with Lewis (Hamilton), we stopped early in the first stint, then we got close to Fernando at the end. It was a very fun race in the end , to the limit. With 95 percent of the grid you would have crashed, but with him you have the possibility of doing these manoeuvres that are fun," the Mexican told FOX Sports.
In a sport as demanding and detailed as Formula 1, instances like these are an unmissable sight, although there were many factors that made Alonso manage to return to the podium, not least a good defence from the driver manages to define such a good position.
Fernando Alonso is 42, and shows us that he still has a lot to deliver, and years of experience and dedication to the sport could be the explanation for such intelligent defence, and exceptional driving by the Spaniard.
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