Fernando Alonso admitted that himself and Aston Martin “got lucky” at the Australian Grand Prix on Sunday, with the Spaniard having initially been left furious with the FIA.
Alonso’s sensational start to the 2023 F1 season continued at the Albert Park Circuit, a venue he claimed victory at in 2006.
The 41-year-old achieved yet another third-place finish in Melbourne on Sunday, with Alonso having now finished in third at every race this season.
Alonso started the race in fourth and actually stayed there in the opening laps, before moving to third after early leader George Russell opted for an early pit-stop.
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The Aston Martin driver remained in third thanks to a red flag following a crash for Alex Albon, with Alonso having been able to fit new tyres during the stoppage.
Once the race restarted, he remained in third; however, he did apply some pressure on Lewis Hamilton ahead.
He ultimately didn’t quite have the pace to catch Hamilton, before the race was stopped again with three laps to go after Kevin Magnussen crashed on the exit of Turn Two.
The second race restart was a complete nightmare for Alonso, who was tagged at the opening corner by Carlos Sainz, sending the veteran into a spin.
He luckily avoided the barrier but did fall to P12, before the race was red flagged again.
Alonso was absolutely furious when he returned to the pits after initially being told that he wouldn’t be reinstated to third, despite a red flag having been thrown before the drivers completed the first sector.
“F***, f***. Stupid rule, How the hell can you put a red flag before?” said a furious Alonso.
“Maybe because we didn’t complete a lap we go back to the same positions like we did in Silverstone. Check this immediately, they should do this, they should do it.”
That is exactly what the FIA then did, with the order from the restart having been taken, excluding the drivers who retired from the race.
As a result, Alonso was promoted from 12th to third, whilst team-mate Lance Stroll claimed fourth.
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“The (first) red flag did help us because George (Russell) and Carlos came in so we got those places for free, and the second red flag probably didn’t help with the incident there,” said Alonso.
“But we got lucky again and we had another opportunity to just see the chequered flag in P3.
“As I said, P3 and P4 for the team it just an amazing Sunday.”