SHANGHAI, CHINA - APRIL 08: Fernando Alonso of Spain driving the (14) McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team McLaren MCL32 on track during final practice for the Formula One Grand Prix of China at Shanghai International Circuit on April 8, 2017 in Shanghai, China. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
Fernando Alonso is very proud of his performance at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix on Sunday, so much so that the Spanish driver claimed nobody else at Baku could have equalled his driving in the race.
Alonso, who drives with McLaren and finished seventh, was hit by Sergey Sirotkin’s Williams in the first lap at Baku, a lap the Spaniard believes only he could have been able to finish.
“Another seventh place but I think it was the result of persistence and pride, because I think no one [else] would have reached the pitlane, first of all,” Alonso said, according to ESPN. “They would have parked the car and if they could reach the pitlane they would have retired the car.
“But we didn’t park or retire the car and fought for every tenth, every lap, close to the walls all race long and, I think it was the best race of my life.”
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In the opening-lap crash with Sirotkin — which also involved Nico Hulkenberg — Alonso suffered two punctured tires. He also replaced the wheels and the front wing.
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The Spaniard added that he thinks other competitors would have “parked their cars” if they had sustained the same amount of damage his vehicle took on at the beginning of the Formula 1 race.
“It was an unrepeatable race,” two-time world champion Alonso said in an Instagram post.
Alonso’s McLaren teammate Stoffel Vandoorne finished ninth at Baku.
Next up for Alonso is competing for Toyota this weekend at the 6 Hours of Spa, his first World Endurance Championship race of 2018.
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