F1 Dutch GP: Alonso “got lucky” with unseen near-crash in late Sainz chase
Alonso hunted down 🥂and passed compatriot Sainz on the penultimate lap of Sunday’s ra﷽ce at Zandvoort to snatch sixth away from the Ferrari driver.
It followed a close shave for the double worl൲d champion shortly before at Turn 3 that was missed by the TV cameras.
During his bid to༺ catch Sainz, Alonso locked up at the banked Turn 3 and narrowly avoided hitting the barriers on the outside.
“It was a very stressful moment, for sure,” Alonso explained. “I had a go at ♎Carlos into Turn 1 on the inside.
“I thought I was making the move and in the last moment, he released thꦿe brakes and he braked even later, so we nearly touched already into Turn 1.
“Then into Turn 3, I was too close. I locked the fronts a litt✤le bit and I run wider than normal outside the circuit. But obviously there are like two metres from the banking to the wall.
“I was like 10 centime🔯tres or something from the wall with both front tyres loc𒆙ked up. It’s not that I did anything magic there, it was just pure luck because I was not in control of the car. So I got lucky there.”
Alonso’s late charge past Sainz came after an incre🍷dible start saw him gain places on the opening lap by taking a wider line through the opening sequence of corners.
The Spaniard dꦉescribed his hectic first lap, which featured a n💯ear-miss with Alpine teammate Esteban Ocon and Alfa Romeo’s Antonio Giovianzzi.
“The plan was to go on the outside ⛎[at Turn 1] because I was on the clean side of the grid,” he said. “I wanted to have a straight start, not much movement and try to go on the outside of Turn 1.
“But Giovinazzi thought the same plan, I guess, so he was on the outside and block♐ing a little bit my idea. So after that, I had to improvise a little bit int✃o Turn 2 and Turn 3. There were a lot of cars, I was even in the grass at one point.
“In Turn 3 I cho🌞se to run on the outside and I kept a good momentum on it. But Carlos was in the middle in a way, so I had to brake the exit of Turn 3. It didn𒁏’t help.
“But then Giovinazzi and Carlos w๊ere fighting until up until Turn 7 and I could squeeze one position there.”
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