Fernando Alonso – the author of the three best overtaking maneuvers

In modern Formula 1, with its rather large and heavy cars, overtaking is mainly done at the end of the straights and with the help of the DRS system. However, the “old guard” of the championship has repeatedly proven this season that not everything depends only on the speed of cars – experience, the ability to quickly and correctly analyze the situation on the track and creativity are still very important factors.

Experts from the official website of the championship compiled the top ten overtakes of the first half of the season and it turned out that Fernando Alonso became the author of the three most impressive maneuvers, and in two cases he did not use DRS.

10. Stroll defeated Sainz in Saudi Arabia

The Canadian Aston Martin driver was still recovering from injuries sustained before the start of the season, but that didn’t stop him from acting quite impetuously on track: shortly after the start of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix he beat beautiful way Carlos Sainz on the track. outer radius. However, Lance did not finish that race – on the 18th lap his car’s engine failed.

9. Perez defeated Piastri in Hungary

On lap 46 of the Hungarian Grand Prix, Sergio Pérez attacked the Australian McLaren driver in the battle for 4th position and overtook him on the outer radius of the first corner. Admittedly, then he acted on the point of responsiveness, pushing Oscar off the track a bit, but overtaking was still beautiful.

8. Norris defeated Sargent in Belgium

The Belgian weekend wasn’t the best for McLaren in general and for Lando Norris in particular, but the British driver still excelled – remembering his excellent overtake from Logan Sargent on the outer beam in the Les Combes bundle. And this despite the fact that the track was not completely dry.

7. Russell beat Leclerc in the UK

George Russell once again demonstrated his fighting skills, and even in front of the British fans, when he beat Charles Leclerc on the outer turning circle of Luffield, although at first he seemed to make it clear to his opponent that he intended to attack along the inside edge off the job.

6. Stroll beat Bottas in Canada

Lance Stroll usually performs well on his home track in Montreal, and this time he managed to overtake not only on the last lap, but literally in the last meters of the race. The Canadian Aston Martin racer beat Valtteri Bottas’ Alfa Romeo at the finish to receive the black and white checkered flag just 0.03 seconds ahead of his opponent.

5. Okon defeated Tsunoda in Belgium

The Belgian Spa circuit is renowned for its overtaking maneuvers, and as always there were many such maneuvers during the race this year, but one of the most memorable was Alpine F1 driver Esteban Okon’s overtaking move.

On the official website, his performance against AlphaTauri pilot Yuki Tsunoda was considered Okon’s best overtaking move this season. A lot happened in a set of Les Combes: Esteban acted decisively, positioned the car very accurately on the track and eventually came out as the winner of that duel. The dispute was fundamental, as they competed for positions in the top ten.

4. Magnussen defeated Sargent in Monaco

Unlike Spa, they rarely overtake on a narrow city circuit in Monaco – all the more valuable is every successful maneuver. Kevin Magnussen managed to get ahead of Logan Sargent by braking late before Mirabeau corner, almost to the point of locking the wheels. Danish rider Haas managed to take the inside lane – it seems the opponent didn’t notice how Kevin was moving inside the corner.

The cars were several inches apart and Magnussen acted risky, but he did it!

3. Alonso ahead of Sainz in Baku

Fernando Alonso immediately took advantage of the fact that his compatriot, who plays for the Ferrari team, left minimal, yet sufficient room in the corner on a street circuit in the capital of Azerbaijan. Overtaking has turned out really beautiful, we can say about him that he will go down in the textbooks of racing skills – however, that race was the first in 2023, after which Fernando was unable to climb the podium.

2. Alonso ahead of Hamilton in Canada

Second place in the ranking of the best overtaking maneuvers was taken by Fernando’s maneuver against Lewis Hamilton on the 21st lap of the Canadian race, which allowed him to take second place. It all happened at the end of the straight before the final chicane, and again Alonso was helped by the fact that he acted very decisively and precisely.

1. Alonso ahead of Hamilton in Bahrain

It is symbolic in its own way that the overtaking maneuvers that took place in the very first race of the championship are considered the best so far in 2023: we can say that Fernando has applied for the entire upcoming season. But back then we couldn’t have imagined that a whole string of his top three finishes would start from the podium in Bahrain.

They say that to Fernando at this point of the route in Sakhir, ie in the 10th turn no one overtook. Admittedly, later when Alonso talked about this episode, he was humble: “My car was faster, the tires were better, so it wasn’t that hard!”