You don’t always see a driver start a race from P15 and end up on the podium. But then Max Verstappen is no ordinary driver and yesterday was no ordinary drive he put on display. Beating all odds, the Dutchman kept his nerve to avoid any collision at the start and then built on the momentum, one overtake at a time. In no time, the defending champion was behind his teammate on 2nd. While all that is supremely impressive, what was eerie about it was that Fernando Alonso had predicted it all beforehand.

Continuing the phenomenal performance from last year, Red Bull delivered another rocket ship in 2023. While the rest of the grid is bunching up, FIA’s attempt at leveling the playing field seems to have had no impact on the Austrian team. Showing what the RB19 was capable of in the season opener in Bahrain, Max left many fans rooting for him to win the race in Jeddah despite the P15 position on starting grid. While that did not happen, the P2 finish was no mean feat either.

Fernando Alonso nailed the prediction on what lap Max Verstappen will overtake him

After briefly taking the lead on lights out, Alonso slipped back into P2 on the restart behind the safety car. That remained until half the race was over. On Lap 25, Verstappen, ever so easily, overtook the Spaniard who did not show much resistance. While a part of the reason behind it was that any effort would have been futile owing to the Dutchman’s pace, the other reason was Fernando’s own prediction of Max taking the P2 on that very lap.

We recently learned about it as a video surfaced online of Sky Sports’ Rachel Brooks telling Max in a pre-race interview about Fernando’s prediction. The reigning champion could only reply with a smile and a little “okay”.

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Take a look at how fans on Instagram reacted to Alonso’s prediction that many felt was “all part of El Plan”.

“All part of El Plan. 😂”

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“Fernando leaking the script 😂😂”

“its almost like nando made a bet”

“Hahahah that’s awesome! 🔥 Alonso know a champion’s capability 😄 Max was on fire!”

“Fernando can predict the future”

“Fernando knew better”

“Uhm… maybe that’s why Fernando is so happy… he looks into the future and he just knows what will happen…. Maybeeee…”

“Bro there ain’t no way Fernando called it 💀”

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“Fernando could have defended till end but let him go because of his prediction 😂😂😂😂😂”

Alonso’s years of experience not just in F1, but in motor racing, in general, is the reason behind his almost dextrous prediction. Not many hold the kind of ability he does, and now we know why.