Fernando Alonso said he had to make a “kamikaze move” on Carlos Sainz Jnr to take sixth place in the Hungarian Grand Prix.
The McLaren driver scored his best result of the season following his pass on the Toro Rosso driver shortly after the pair had come into the pits together.
The pair had a close run-in after the Safety Car restart at the beginning of the race. Sainz was cleared of forcing Alonso off the track.
Alonso said: “We were together at the start, at the restart after the Safety Car, we came into the pits together, we exited together and I knew I had two laps where I could really push and stress the new tyres a little bit.”
“I tried to do that with some kamikaze moves at times because, after those initial two laps, I knew it was going to be impossible. It worked out fine.”
At the end of the race Alonso was almost a minute behind the next car ahead of him. He said there was no way the McLaren could have finished higher.
“We were probably looking at seventh or eighth position today,” he said, “but with [Daniel] Ricciardo out of the race, sixth place became possible, and we grabbed it.”
“There are three or four weekends in a season where we can be competitive, so we need to maximise those and fully capitalise on our potential – and that’s exactly what we did this weekend.”
“Races like Spa and Monza are going to be more difficult for us, so let’s just enjoy this result and think about the difficult ones when they come.”
Baron (@baron)
30th July 2017, 19:07
I’ll be honest, Fernando is becoming more ‘likeable’ race by race even this far down the grid. Is he maturing do you think or is he just a clever manipulator of the media? Always a fan of his driving skills but not (until now) a fan of his persona.
KimiRaikkonen1207 (@kimiraikkonen1207)
30th July 2017, 19:41
I think he is maturing. He has been humbled by his experiences with backmarker teams, and while I respected him before, he is my favorite driver on the grid now (unless Kubica joins).
KimiRaikkonen1207 (@kimiraikkonen1207)
30th July 2017, 19:42
(that is, I respected him for his driving ability before)
George (@george)
30th July 2017, 20:39
He’s not under pressure to perform, he seems to just be enjoying what he can. Similar to Schumacher when he came back, probably a combination of age and not having to prove themselves.
As33
31st July 2017, 2:57
I’ve always been a fan of Alonso. To be honest as soon as he is back in a title challenging car (if that ever happens) you’ll see the old, fiercely competitive, cunning side of him. It is easier to be likeable when a) you are winning all the time or b) the pressure is off, see Vettel.
Fukobayashi (@)
31st July 2017, 10:04
+1
Brundle launched a scathing attack on him on Twitter for the deckchair moment, saying that it ‘reminded team bosses why they don’t want him’. Baffling, I can only assume he has a fever and delirium to go with his virus.
jaapgrolleman (@jaapgrolleman)
30th July 2017, 19:11
I see he has learned from Abu Dhabi 2010.
Nate
31st July 2017, 12:35
When he was 8 points ahead going into the race and Ferrari killed his chances by bad strategy..
Depailler
30th July 2017, 19:37
Great drive Fernando!
How did he manage the fastest lap? Had he saved his tyres a bit for low fuel at the end? ‘All’ mclaren and FA need now is an extra 50-100hp.
Balue (@balue)
30th July 2017, 22:00
Fantastic. Even disregarding him not saving fuel and using another engine mode at that last lap, it bodes very well for McLaren. The car is very good and Alonso driving as well as ever.
Ron Mon (@henslayer)
30th July 2017, 20:47
Fred is the driver of the weekend. You heard it here first.
Sviatoslav (@)
30th July 2017, 21:24
Alonso showed that he still has some talent left in his hands. The old Spanish guy gave a great lesson to the youngster. But Sainz won’t learn, in my opinion. Sainz will stay another Perez, another terrible driver who can sometimes drive rapidly.
Mikkke
30th July 2017, 22:20
What did you say about Sainz today? He finished seven with a car that at least was 0.6 slower a lap than Alonso. He make a super start passing the to Mcl on the outside!! What a wrong comment!!!
Cris
31st July 2017, 6:18
I think if this Spec-3 Honda holds out ( Reliability ) and the prospect of the Spec-4 to be a step up then Mclaren would opt to stay with Honda for atleast another year, and that will also be the case for Fernando, where would he go? Mercedes and Ferrari closed the door on him, he will never go to Redbull with Horner and Marko there running the show and Redbull opt to promote their young talents. Renault is the most viable option for Fernando, but the car seems to be just a tad better than Mclaren even with a lot better engine.
So to the best option for Mclaren and Alonso is to stay with Honda for just another year, Honda might just be getting the grips on this new for 2017 engine design for them
mike
31st July 2017, 13:01
Alonso acheived fastest lap because he could push
if he has to reserve fuel then cannot push as the Honda is a thirsty engine hence the problems