High praise for Alonso: "It was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable"

Fernando Alonso played a key role in Alpine's first-ever victory in Hungary, which was claimed by Esteban Ocon. Although the Spaniard is happy with the win, Alpine's Alan Permane knows that Alonso would have preferred to have been on the top step of the podium himself.

Alonso showed his strength especially when he had to keep a much faster Lewis Hamilton behind him. The Briton tried to make up as much ground as possible on fresh tyres but was thwarted by Alonso's Alpine, which he trailed for eleven laps. In the end, this proved enough for Ocon to take his first win.

Alonso wanted to win

"It was unbelievable, absolutely unbelievable," says the director of track operations Permane according to Spanish AS.com. "Really, he is happy for us and for Esteban, although I know deep down he will be frustrated because he wants to win". Ocon's victory was a big surprise to Alpine itself.

For Alpine, it was a very strong weekend with Aston Martin and AlphaTauri both being beaten. But Permane remains realistic when it comes to the rest of this season: "If we look at qualifying where we were eighth and ninth, we are as usual. We will continue to learn, but the next race at Spa will be difficult for us with the long straights."