WATCH: Fernando Alonso HUGS Sergio Perez after defeating him in last-lap Brazilian GP duel: Don’t put me under this much stress again, I’m old

Formula 1 is hailed as the pinnacle of motorsports because it is so much more than just some racecars doing the laps around complicated circuits. The tremendous grit and hard work of the racers who driver at over 230mph, the fans who come to witness the races even amidst torrential weather, and the genius mechanics who build the cars–all of them make up the sport. But mostly, it is the respectful competition between the drivers that truly helps F1 shine bright.

Recently, the news around F1 town has been festered with the drivers aiming throwing shade at each other. In the middle of all this, leaving a proper example of sportsman spirit, Fernando Alonso embraced his rival Sergio Perez during his post-race interview session. It happened when Checo walked up to the two-time World Champion after their tremendous duel at the Autodromo Jose Carlos Pace which went on till the last millisecond of the race. The 42-year-old hugged the Red Bull driver and joked with him.

Don’t put me under this much stress again, I'm old.

Fernando Alonso made a comeback in F1 in 2021 after leaving the sport in 2018. Since then, he had changed his team to move to Aston Martin at the start of this year. This shift has brought considerable success as Nando has now gotten right podium wins from the current season after achieving a P3 finish at the Brazilian GP. But this win came after Fernando Alonso struggled to surpass Sergio Perez in his migtly Red Bull as he reached the finish line only 0.053s before Checo.

Fernando Alonso has said that his P3 at the Brazilian GP is the result that his team needed

At the start of this year, Fernando Alonso displayed a brilliant form as he regularly appeared on the podium with back-to-back good performances. But after the Zandvoort GP, he was not seen in the top 3 again up until the Brazilian Grand Prix. At the Qualifying Session during the race weekend in Sao Paulo, Fernando Alonso secured a P3 start to the Main Race. On the other hand, Sergio Perez was down in the seventh position on the grid.

But during the course of the Sao Paulo GP, Fernando had Sergio Perez creep up on him from the back. But the Oviedo did not panic and simply left enough space for a fair competition against the Red Bull driver. Perez surpassed Alonso while the two cars were getting very close to the finish line. But in the end, Nando had the last laugh as he displayed his masterful skills and managed to go past the black and white chequered flag only 0.053 seconds ahead of Perez.

At the post race interview, Fernando Alonso claimed that him and his team needed the P3 win. They had performed decently till the Dutch GP and then their results fell apart. But now, the return of Alonso to the podium and also Lance Stroll’s surprise P4 finish at the Quali have proven that Brazil was a strong weekend for the two Aston Martin racers. Now, it remains to be seen if they can give similar performances at the remaining two races in the roster for 2023.

In case you missed it:

• Helmut Marko blames Sergio Perez’s lack of self-confidence for his failure to capture podium every weekend

• Oscar Piastri claims McLaren is the second-fastest car on the grid behind Red Bull

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