Fernando Alonso has revealed the post-race formation with Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel was spontaneous after meeting them on the in-lap.
The top two from the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix completed some donuts for the crowd when the Spaniard, who finished 11th, caught up with them.
From that point, the three most successful drivers in recent history with 11 championships between them ran side-by-side before more donuts on the start/finish line much to the delight of everyone.
“The whole weekend has been amazing and the in-lap was not planned,” Alonso said. “I saw them doing donuts at Turn 8 and then I saw one car on the left and one car on the right and they kept going like this until the finish line.
“It was a nice touch by them, so thank you Sebastian and thank you Lewis.
“They are both great champions and I feel very privileged to race with them; it was a great race to be fighting with the Haas drivers to the very end.”
It was a fine moment to bring to a pause a remarkable 17-year career with two world titles and 32 wins on a weekend which Alonso admits was by far his busiest ever.
“I had really no time in the weekend,” he smiled. “The morning has been the busiest morning ever in a Grand Prix.
“I tried to sit down and check my telephone and after 30 seconds, [press officer] Silvia [Hoffer-Frangipane] was coming or someone from the team knocked on the door and I had to say hello to a new person!
“It has been very, very busy, so I think I need two or three days to check and realize all the things that I lived this weekend. It will always be in my heart.”
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Though the questions continue as to whether Alonso may return in 2020, he was asked how he wants to be remembered if Abu Dhabi really was his F1 farewell as a driver.
“As a fighter, as a guy that never gives up,” he replied. “I’ve been driving very good cars, I’ve been driving slower cars but with the same motivation, the same ambition and the same love for racing.
“I race every week of my life. Sometimes it’s here in this paddock, some other weekends it’s on a go-kart track, some others in sports cars, if not in the video games. I’m a full-time race driver.
“That’s probably the way I hope people will think about me in the future.”
