The Las Vegas Grand Prix is upon us, yet it’s difficult to let go of what happened at the Brazilian GP. The race weekend in São Paulo had everything. From apocalyptic thunderstorms to Charles Leclerc retiring before the race even started to a huge Lap 1 crash and a nail-biting finish for the podium. As we approach the next race, the Aston Martin insider finally reveals how Fernando Alonso outsmarted Sergio Perez for the podium in Brazil. 

Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez were engaged in a fight for P3 halfway through the race. One would imagine that Checo in the fastest car would breeze past Alonso in Aston Martin. But that wasn’t the case. The wild old fox could keep the Mexican behind and build his gap to over three seconds. However, it was then time for the final pitstop. Checo pitted, followed by Alonso on the next lap to stop the over-cut. While the gap remained the same, the Mexicans started eating out of the advantage the Spaniard had. 

For the last quarter of the race, the Mexican was glued to the gearbox of Alonso. However, the 42-year-old took various lines around the corners, got better exits, and was able to keep the Mexican behind him. This was until the penultimate lap where Perez depleted his battery and overtook Alonso on the main straight. But Alonso isn’t one who gives up easily and overtakes Perez on the final lap going into Turn 4.

The key to this battle was Fernando Alonso managing his pace and tire life while making Perez use his tires more in the dirty air. And this is exactly what the Aston Martin insider Pedro de la Rosa explained in a podcast. Alonso kept his calm, conveyed his plan to the team, and executed it brilliantly.

According to the F1 Nation podcast, Pedro de la Rosa said, “Like Fernando in Brazil, he came out with the medium tires, Checo was coming, going 2-3 ends a lap faster, and he said to his race engineer over the radio, you know what I’m doing, yes? Basically, it was a message to keep everyone calm that he wanted Checo to close the gap, get excited, overuse his tires, and then when he started pushing, he started building the gap again.” 

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Let’s see what Fernando Alonso made of the fight as he explains his clever technique and how he lured Sergio Perez into his trap. 

Fernando Alonso explains his tactics against Sergio Perez. 

Fernando Alonso has been racing in F1 for over 2 decades. The Spaniard’s awareness of the track is supreme and can make decisions on his own based on his experience. Speed isn’t the only thing that makes a driver great, but the awareness and racecraft too. Alonso lacks none of them. After stealing the podium away from Perez, Alonso explained his tactics to keep Sergio Perez behind him. 

During the post-race interviews, Fernando Alonso said, “I think being the car in front, you have a little bit of an advantage in terms of grip in the last three corners. So I was just making sure… Not making any mistake in those three corners, because if not, Checo will be too close. I was using the energy also in the straights just to make sure that there was no opportunity for Checo.”

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