“Podium tastes like a victory” – Alonso

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Fernando Alonso said his second podium finish of the year felt like a victory despite losing the lead of the race in the final laps.

The Ferrari driver fell behind Daniel Ricciardo with two laps to go, but felt he could have held on for longer had Lewis Hamilton resisted the Red Bull driver for a few more laps.

“It was difficult but Lewis had the medium tyres which was a little bit less grippy, I had a bit of an advantage in level of grip there,” said Alonso to reporters after the race.

“Obviously I wanted Lewis to take second position and to hold Ricciardo a little bit longer because that was a help for me but when I saw Ricciardo passing Hamilton I was only one lap in front of Daniel at that stage because he was so fast. With Hamilton it was a little bit easier.”

Alonso took the lead of the race by staying out after the Safety Car came out for a second time, which put him in a position to claim his best finish of the season so far.

“With the last Safety Car we saw Ricciardo and Massa pitting, we stay out, we had the opportunity to lead the race and control the race from the lead and we thought that was the best decision,” he explained.

“We struggled a little bit in the last part with the tyres but this podium obviously tastes like a victory.”

2014 Hungarian Grand Prix

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Image © Ferrari/Ercole Colombo

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Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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37 comments on ““Podium tastes like a victory” – Alonso”

  1. Fantastic drive from Alonso

  2. Epic drive fro Alonso… so badly wanted to see hi win this one

  3. Great Race from Alonso. I thought he will win this one….

    Superb last minute overtake by Ricciardo to steal that Victory

  4. Old Lightnin (@lightnin-hopkins)
    27th July 2014, 16:41

    Fernando really is the best. Imagine if he ever gets a car thats fastest or atleast equally as fast as any other car on the grid…

    1. Like the MP4-22?

      1. Yes, without Dennis supporting his son Hamilton

        1. Or the R25 & R26.

      2. Actually, after changing his car with a lot of parts like the brakes etc to his taste, Alonso was faster and scored more points than Hamilton. See the points table for yourself, Hamilton took more points in the early part of the season compared to Alonso but the second part is the other way around.

        1. I thought that was because Alonso stopped sharing data partway through the season.

  5. Lewis will be out one (obviously fancy) fruit basket come Christmas. But Alonso was amazing today. After he went off at the chicane, I thought his tires were done and he would just slide off the road on his own if Hamilton didn’t nail him first. But he was like a terrier up there. Unbelievable.

  6. Alonso! Nothing more to be said about this man.

    Ferrari better get their act together. They owe him a faster car big time.

    1. They’ve been owing him a faster car since he first joined the team.

      At some point, he’s got to say “enough is enough” and take his chances elsewhere (wherever that may be).

      1. The issue is that he is probably at the best place possible. Merc/RB are settled. Williams might be an option but are not guaranteed to be this competitive next season. The less said about McLaren the better.

        His only hope is that the car’s Aero is good when the engine eventually comes good.

    2. @evered7
      That’s why James Allison didn’t show up in the last GP’s and stayed in Maranello working flat out on the next year’s car (project 666)

      1. it’s a satanic project? it makes sense :D

      2. @tifoso1989 With the wind tunnel issues sorted, I see no reason why Ferrari should not be able to build the fastest car next season. They have been good reliability wise hope that continues as well.

        Loving the fight between RB and Ferrari these days.

  7. Fernando Alonso really is a great racer. Top of the crop, too bad Ferrari failed again in providing him the proper equipment to fight for a well deserved WDC #3.

  8. That was a great performance from Alonso. He managed, what, 30 plus laps on softs? And kept the fastest man in the weekend behind him. Unfornately Ricciardo made two great passes by the very end of the race and took the win, very much deserved. Well, there’s always next race.’

  9. No words to describe this man. Still mantain he’s the best of the lot.

    1. Awesome to see you say that @fer-no65 !!

  10. I was in complete awe of that man yet again today. He’s not a driver, he’s a magician.

    I’ve been watching Formula 1 for almost two decades now. I’ve seen some of the greats come and go, but I don’t think I’ve ever seen a man as good as Alonso barring one exception: Michael Schumacher. I think in terms of intelligence, car control, wheel-to-wheel racing, defensive driving, tactical thinking and consistency as well as an almost surreal ability to feel the car and tyres under them and be then able to know exactly how much they can push them, those two men stand alone in my time watching live races. Alonso’s driving today had all of the above.

    It really is a joy to watch a true master at work every Sunday. No driver is perfect but Alonso is damn close. I hope that he gets a few more Championships before he retires, but even if he doesn’t he’s one of the all time greats in my book.

    1. Couldn’t have said it better myself CS.

      I’ve been watching since 1997 and race-after-race, Alonso still continues to impress me. An extraordinary driver.

  11. That is too much for Alonso. It’s a shame that he will never again get the fastest car.
    Incredible effort, I thought it is almost impossible to drive like that and finish in the 2nd place.

  12. It’s not often that I compliment Alonso, but all weekend he has been exceptional. I know who my DOTW vote is going to.

  13. Great race for Alonso, really outstanding performance.

  14. The man’s a wizard, a boss, a maestro, a legend. That was his 97th podium, only Michael and Prost have more, amazing.

  15. Alonso is a master driver, hands down. He deserves more. It’s a shame the car is no par for his quality at the moment.

  16. Driver of the weekend, clearly. Congrats!

  17. His driving was wonderful, it was amazing to see him… Bravo!

  18. I can’t type 100 lines of awe here, so I’ll just say I’m left speechless! I mean, I wouldn’t even know where to start with pointing out all of the unbelievable qualities this great man possesses. From the moment he left the pits for the last time, he knew what he had to do and took every corner with that in mind. It just one of those drives that make you happy for being a fan of this sport. To witness such a skill is a privilege in itself. When as a fan of Alonso, I can even enjoy him finishing 2nd or 3rd, just because his drive was more than enough to display that this man is one of the greatest to have ever entered this sport.
    A pure art. Something that is making you richer in spirit just by witnessing it.

  19. As he’s who I root for, I think he’s the best on the grid based on the cars he’s been driving lately. It’s a shame ferarri can’t produce a truly competitive car for him.

  20. Masterclass with Fernando.

    Talk about punching above the machinery’s weight

  21. Really really nice to see Nando on the podium, but a victory would have been a lot better and even deserved, more like a victory trophy for all his performances for the entire season so far. I hope it’s not the last podium for Ferrari this season.

  22. An outstanding drive from Alonso!! Just brilliant. As most of you have mentioned already.. only if he had a faster car… Fantastic to see him on the podium (hope he wins a race or two before the season ends though…) and Kimi as well for picking up meaningful points after a disastrous qualification.

  23. I was so ticked off when RIC passed HAM because I knew ALO would not be able to hold him off but what a race by ALO!!! Phenomenal!!! It´s a shame he´s driving a dog of a car yet again!

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