Fernando Alonso was almost neck-and-neck with Sergio Perez as they raced to the line (Image: X/@F1)

Trackside footage from the Brazilian Grand Prix showed just how close Fernando Alonso and Sergio Perez’s final lap battle was.

Max Verstappen cruised to yet another victory at Interlagos on Sunday (November 5), while Lando Norris claimed second. But all eyes were on who was going to finish third.

Alonso had been holding onto the position for most of the race until Perez got past him on the penultimate lap. The two-time world champion managed to reverse that on the final lap, however.

Perez enabled DRS as they headed for the chequered flag, but his Red Bull ultimately finished less than a tenth of a second behind Alonso’s Aston Martin. It looked extremely close on TV.

But a recording from the start/finish line offered an even better angle of the fine margin between the pair, as F1 fans branded it ‘insanely close’ on social media. Both drivers had clearly revelled in the fierce contest.

Speaking post-race, Alonso said: “For me it was like 30 laps that I had the pressure from Checo. But when he passed me two laps to the end, I thought, ‘Okay, this is gone, the podium is not possible anymore’.

 

It was Alonso who just about claimed third in Sao Paulo (Image: Hasan Bratic/picture-alliance/dpa/AP Images)

“But he braked a little bit late into [Turn] 1, and I said, ‘Okay, I go for it into [Turn] 4.’ This is a phenomenal result for the team. We’ve been struggling for a couple of months already, especially the last two events with two retirements.

“So this podium is for them, for everybody in the factory. We keep fighting until the last lap. Happy with this result – and now to Vegas!”

Perez, meanwhile, was gracious in defeat. “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.

Perez was stuck behind the Aston Martin for most of the Brazilian GP (Image: FLORENT GOODEN/DPPI/REX/Shutterstock)

“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.

“I’m on the wrong side, I end up losing but it’s fine because it was a great fight. We’ve seen in the last couple of races that the pace has been there, that we’ve been really strong and for some reason or another we haven’t been able to get the final end result, but I just know that it’s a matter of time.”