Sergio Perez shows true colours after losing in Fernando Alonso photo finish at Brazil GP

Sergio Perez shows true colours after losing in Fernando Alonso photo finish at Brazil GP

Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso gave everything to beat each other to third place on the last lap of the Brazilian Grand Prix, culminating in a sprint to the finish line

Max Verstappen won the race and, although Lando Norris kept him honest throughout, it was always clear that they would take the top two spots in that order. But third place was still very much up for grabs.

Alonso spent the vast majority of the race in that position. But Perez had been saving his tyres for a late attack on the Aston Martin driver and launched that assault with a few laps to go.

It looked as though the Mexican had his rival’s number after getting past on the penultimate lap. But Alonso used all his experience to make sure he got past the Red Bull on the final lap to set up a desperate dash to the line.

Alonso had track position but Perez had the DRS down the start/finish straight. In the end, the margin between them was less than a tenth of a second, but the Red Bull driver was the one to miss out on a place on the podium.

He sought out Alonso in the media pen to hug and congratulate his rival. And he was very complimentary towards the Spaniard as he reflected on how the conclusion of the Grand Prix had panned out.

“It was quite an intense battle – we tried everything,” he said. “Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed on that, but it was well deserved for Fernando. I think we had a great fight, very fair and to the limit. I think this is something that a lot of drivers can learn from because what we did, the way we fought today, it’s how it should be done.

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