Alonso wanted to overtake Hamilton: 'Thought I was going to be in the lead'.

Fernando Alonso finished third at the Qatar Grand Prix. The Alpine driver took a risk with the one-stop, but eventually managed to keep Sergio Perez behind him.

It is the first podium for Alonso since 2014. "Unbelievable! Seven years. But finally, we got it. We were close a couple of races but not enough. Sochi was the last possibility," Alonso said after the race.

Alonso started the race from P3 due to some grid penalties and actually expected more. "I thought I would lead into turn 1 with the soft tyres against Lewis and also at the end very close with Checo.

"We planned one stop from the beginning but we didn't know the wear and deg. Quite well executed. The reliability of the car is superb and they deserve it. F***... I was waiting so long for this," he concluded.