Alonso left impressed by Azerbaijan ‘outstanding risk’

Fernando Alonso has hailed the “outstanding risk” on display from the entire F1 field during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix.

The race around the Baku City Circuit is notorious for providing the drivers with a heightened challenge as the walls sit close all around the track.

There were no on-track incidents during the race despite various wheel-to-wheel fights – until Carlos Sainz and Sergio Perez came together on the penultimate lap while fighting for third place.

Alonso praised the driving standards across the grid after crossing the line in sixth place ahead of the Williams duo.

“I think the level of risk and precision that you have to apply in a race like today is outstanding, for everybody, all 20 drivers,” Alonso told media including RacingNews365.

“With a low level of grip, I think we were driving close to 100% every lap. It was very impressive that there was no safety car or no accident happened in the race.

“It was no different for us, obviously, Monza P11, not really any prize from that race, and here a lot of points, so one compensated the other.”

Alonso’s sixth-place result marked his best result since the Canadian Grand Prix in June.

Having looked on course for an eighth-place result, Alonso commended Aston Martin for being in the right position to capitalise on the late-race crash between Sainz and Perez.

“On a normal weekend, only ninth and 10th is available for the midfield teams,” he said. “Thanks to some action in front of us, sixth was available and we were there to take it.

“We were flexible, one or two stops are still working for us. So we followed more or less the trend, and whatever the people around us were doing, we copied and mirrored the strategy.

“We were able to maintain the position with Franco, Alex and Nico at one point. 

“Tough race, obviously, no time to relax, but in a way, well executed. Good pit stops with the strategy, good tyre degradation.

“So maybe not super pace this weekend, but we still executed the race well enough to score a lot of points.”