Red Bull praises ‘clever old fox’ Fernando Alonso over Brazilian GP battle with Sergio Perez

Christian Horner praised Perez and Alonso for their battle in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix.


Red Bull praises ‘clever old fox’ Fernando Alonso over Brazilian GP battle with Sergio Perez

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso (Via IMAGO)

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso’s battle for third place was the highlight of the Sao Paulo Grand Prix, as the two were separated by just 0.053 at the finish line. The Red Bull and the Aston Martin fought for nearly half the race, with Alonso emerging victorious.

Christian Horner, Red Bull Team Principal, complimented Perez’s driving, as the Mexican started only ninth on the grid after a yellow flag in Qualifying. Perez finished fourth, right behind Alonso, after being overtaken on the last lap. Horner said that Perez drove a great race, and he had to face Fernando, a “clever old fox.” 

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They took a good step forward –Aston Martin– . We saw that they ran with very low downforce in the race, and it seemed to work. They were very fast on the straights…Fernando is a clever old fox. It was a great battle between the two

Christian Horner said, as reported by soymotor.com

Perez and Alonso both took a great haul of points from the Grand Prix as they battled for their place in the championship. Alonso has an ongoing fight with Lando Norris for 4th, while Perez battles Lewis Hamilton for 2nd. A bad weekend for Mercedes means Perez is 32 points ahead of Hamilton with only two races left. 

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Sergio Perez believes he would have crashed if he fought anyone but Fernando Alonso

Collisions have been an issue for Sergio Perez in 2023, as on multiple occasions, he has missed out on valuable points due to an incident on track. Mexico last week saw Perez retire from his own home Grand Prix after colliding with Charles Leclerc. In Brazil, however, the Red Bull driver had nothing but praise for Fernando Alonso after their intense battle. 

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso
Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso (via Sky Sports F1)

The two veteran drivers fought all the way to the last lap of the Grand Prix, ending the race with a captivating photo finish. Perez explained that there are extremely few drivers he knows that could hold a battle, as well as Fernando Alonso could. Perez called Alonso’s driving fair and fun to race against. 

In truth, it was a really fun race. Because fighting with a driver like Alonso at the limit – I think with 95% of the grid, I would’ve crashed. 

Sergio Perez said, as reported by lastwordonsports.com

Perez and Alonso have a great relationship off-track, as they share cultures and speak a common language. 2024 could potentially see Aston Martin come back to speed, which could entail more battles between these two race-winning drivers.

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