Fernando Alonso has admitted he thought a Sao Paulo Grand Prix podium “was gone” before reclaiming third place from Sergio Perez on the final lap of the race to conclude a thrilling battle between the pair.
Having spent the majority of the race chasing Alonso, Perez finally passed the Aston Martin on the penultimate lap of the race with a move into the first corner that appeared to have sealed a double podium for Red Bull, with world champion Max Verstappen easing to victory.
However, a small error from Perez gave Alonso the opportunity to retake the final podium spot in the second DRS zone on the run to Turn Four on their final tour, before the Spaniard held on to the position by just 0.053s on a charge to the finish line.
Alonso explained to Sky Sports F1 that he thought he had blown his chance of responding by running off line on the penultimate lap as he attempted to hit back having been passed.
“Honestly, I thought that maybe my chances were gone in Turn Six,” he said.
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Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso enjoyed an epic battle in the final stages of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
Red Bull’s Sergio Perez and Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso enjoyed an epic battle in the final stages of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.
“I went on the outside to change line but then I picked up a lot of marbles and the tyres were dirty, they were vibrating as well and I thought, ‘ok, this is gone’.
“But then I wanted to have one more chance into Turn One or Turn Four with the DRS, maybe braking very aggressive, very late.
“I think he understood that as well, so he broke late into Turn One, missed the apex by one metre and that gave me the run into Turn Four.
“Unexpected, to be honest, when I lost the place I thought it was gone.”
Perez: Other drivers can learn from our battle
Perez, who crashed out of last weekend’s Mexico City Grand Prix and last month’s Qatar Grand Prix Sprint following collisions, said that other drivers could learn from the way he and Alonso had fought for position.
“It was quite an intense battle,” Perez told Sky Sports F1. “We tried everything.
“Unfortunately we didn’t succeed on that, but it was well deserved for Fernando.
“I think we had a great fight, very fair and to the limit. I think this is something that a lot of drivers can learn from because what we did, the way we fought today, it’s how it should be done.
“I’m in the wrong side, I end up losing but it’s fine because it was a great fight.”
Alonso agreed that it had been a “clean” contest, and admitted he was surprised to find Perez had matched his tyre-saving ability going into the final stages.
“It was nice, it was a clean battle,” Alonso said. “A very aggressive, but clean battle. Always with Checo I think he has a very good record on finishing the races and always battling hard but keeping both cars on track.
“I knew that he was coming, I knew that he was a threat, and at the end it was maybe more difficult than I thought, to be honest.
“Five laps to the end, I thought that I had things under control, so I start pushing and then I look in the mirror and Checo was there, and I said ‘uh oh, I think he was saving tyres as well’.”
Perez: Matter of time before podium | Alonso happy for ‘united’ Aston Martin
Perez came into the weekend under major pressure amid continued speculation that Red Bull could look to replace him next season, despite a year still remaining on his contract.
While his run of races without a podium extends to six, a solid display in coming from a starting position of ninth to finish fourth was an improvement on many of his recent efforts.
“We’ve seen in the last couple of races that the pace has been there, that we’ve been really strong,” he added.
“For some reason or another we haven’t been able to get the final end result, but I just know that it’s a matter of time.”
Alonso’s podium puts an end to a dismal run of form from Aston Martin, with the Spaniard having retired from the previous two races after qualifying outside the top 10 on both occasions.
After a stunning start to the season which saw them surprisingly emerge as Red Bull’s closest challengers, the Silverstone-based team have failed to keep up with the development of the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and McLaren.
However, after choosing not to go with some of the upgraded parts that have failed to provide improvement, they returned to prominence in Brazil, with Alonso’s team-mate Lance Stroll finishing fifth.
“In the end I’m happy that we did it for the team,” Alonso said.
“We’re struggling a lot in the last two races but we never lost focus on what were the targets, we went deep in the analysis, we stayed united, we stayed together and this was a very nice thing to witness in the last two events.”
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