While Red Bull cruised to a 1-2 finish, one of the legends of Formula 1 clawed his way to a podium finish.
Fernando Alonso, the 41-year-old who once took a two-year sabbatical from F1, finished on the podium at the Bahrain Grand Prix. It’s Alonso’s first podium since finishing third at Qatar for Alpine in 2021.
Alonso moved to Aston Martin in the offseason to replace the retiring Sebastian Vettel, and it seemed like he made the right move. Aston Martin has seen a resurgence, and while they might not be ready to go for the championship, they look to be the first of the midfield teams to put up a serious fight against the “big three” of Red Bull, Ferrari, and Mercedes.
While it ended well, Alonso’s race almost turned into disaster on Lap 1. Alonso’s teammate, Lance Stroll, tried to power through the inside in Turn 4 right as Alonso swept through the corner to try and get a better exit. The two touched, and it was a noticeable knock, but both drivers got away without any damage.
https://twitter.com/ESPNF1/status/1632398853876985856?s=20
Alonso had the speed to finish fourth, but when third place guy Charles Leclerc broke down at the closing stages of the race, Alonso eventually passed Leclerc’s Ferrari counterpart Carlos Sainz to seal the podium.
Many praised the two-time World Champion, including Red Bull who not only appreciated Alonso’s feat, but appreciated him taking away more points from Ferrari.
That’s P3 Fernando, THAT'S P3!!
YESSSS! 👏 pic.twitter.com/nC5FDAuo6i
— Aston Martin Aramco F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) March 5, 2023
🔟 laps to go. Fernando Alonso, btw 👏
— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing) March 5, 2023
Watching this version of Alonso is such a treat!
— Jimmy Broadbent (@JimmyBroadbent) March 5, 2023
Fernando Alonso on the podium!!!!!!!!
*everyone liked that*
— Matt Gallagher (@MattP1Gallagher) March 5, 2023
Brilliant Aston Martin debut by Fernando Alonso today, best of the rest behind the Red Bulls, #DriverOfTheDay, & this overtake of Carlos Sainz was #MomentOfTheDay. #BahrainGP pic.twitter.com/pH7K5ugOAD
— Matt Bishop 🏳️🌈 🏁 (@TheBishF1) March 5, 2023
Fernando Alonso is back. pic.twitter.com/QuruZXYc7E
— F1 Speed Indonesia (@f1speed_indo) March 5, 2023
This was Alonso’s 99th career F1 podium, putting him four behind Kimi Raikkonen for fifth all-time.
[Photo: @F1]
