Fernando Alonso was celebrated with anger. While grasping the cup, he clenched his right fist and let out a violent scream. It wasn’t for anything less. In Brazil, Alonso returned to the podium after seven races in which Aston Martin appeared to have come to a complete stop. The car became competitive again and the Asturian driver heroically took it to the podium. Outperforms Checo Pérez’s Red Bull for 15 laps and bringing back overtaking on the last lap He beat him by 53 thousandths of a margin. One of Alonso’s best passes this season, but not the only one.
With the last two races of the championship remaining, the Asturian driver managed to win the race. eight podiums and although victory number 33 resisted, it left unforgettable overtakes. Alonso’s five best passes in 2023:
1. Overtaking Lewis Hamilton in Canada
Trying to defend himself against Lewis Hamilton with eight laps left, Alonso said to his team on the radio, “Leave this to me.” And he got his way. The Spanish driver managed to win the fight against the British Mercedes driver and finish the Canadian Grand Prix in second place, only behind the unbeaten Max Verstappen. After leaving the pit lane paired, Alonso managed to stay close to Hamilton until he visualized the best moment with DRS. On the long straight in front of the wall of champions, the Aston Martin driver pulled off a trick on the outside, misleading the Briton and throwing the car at him from the inside. He did this at the end of the straight so he could take advantage of DRS again and prevent Hamilton from retaking the overtake. This overtake earned him the award for best overtake in Formula 1 in June.
2.To Carlos Sainz in Baku (Azerbaijan)
Azerbaijan was the first track where Alonso, who reached the podium three times in the first three races, could not taste the champagne. It wasn’t the best track for Aston Martin, but 14th remained close to the podium in fourth place behind Pérez, Verstappen and Leclerc. The man from Oviedo invented a brilliant maneuver to beat compatriot Carlos Sainz to reach fourth place. After the Safety Car on lap 14, the stewards waved the green flag again. At the restart, Alonso came out clinging to the red car and at Turn 4, he took advantage of the Madrid driver’s less speed coming out of the previous corner and went inside. There was almost no gap between the wall and the Ferrari chassis, but Alonso got in there to take fourth place and maintain his lead for April.
3. A Hamilton in Bahrain
“It wasn’t that hard”. Alonso wanted to belittle Lewis Hamilton’s overtaking. But this progress had many meanings. The first race of the season confirmed that the Aston Martin – Alonso duo had arrived after the desert journey in Alpine and McLaren to celebrate successes and compete face to face with the best. With newer tires and a faster car, the Spaniard approached Hamilton and made the unusual and risky move of putting the car inside at Turn 10 to pass him just before the straight, but it worked out for him. Many laps later he overtook Sainz to add the first of eight podiums to date and the award for best overtaking of the month.
4.Double overtaking at Zandvoort
The Zandvoort track was still wet. In free practice, when faster cars were allowed to pass, Alonso drove his green car towards the bottom of the imposing banking corner at the Dutch circuit. There he discovered that he had more grip strength than he expected. When the traffic lights went out, it was clear to me. Once at the corner, with everyone passing on the outside, the Spaniard undertook and overtook Albon and Russell in one fell swoop to move from fifth to third at turn three. After the break, Alonso managed to return to the second step of the podium behind Max Verstappen. This was his seventh podium of the year after four races.
5.Evaluation of Checo Pérez in Brazil
Alonso was subdued. Resignation. It had been a tough few months at the Aston Martin factory. From the podium in Zandvoort, the car’s performance declined. Six races and two abandonments without a top-five finish. But Brazil came. And the car reappeared. Alonso was behind Verstappen and Norris throughout the race, but Checo Pérez and his Red Bull – faster and with DRS – were closing in. He was 15 laps down by opening the DRS, but the Mexican couldn’t do it. Even though there are two rounds left. Pérez overtook Alonso and everything seemed to indicate that Alonso would be deprived of the podium. But it wasn’t like that. The Asturian player did not give up and revealed the two-time champion’s instinct at the slightest mistake from Checo. In the last lap, he took advantage of DRS and overtook from the outside, winning the match against the Mexican by 53 thousandths of a margin in the photo finish. Seven races later, Alonso returned to enjoy a podium finish for the ages, in the best way possible.