Today, Fernando Alonso stood on an F1 podium for the first time since 2014. He’s the second-oldest driver on the grid (slightly younger than Kimi Raikkonnen) and he’s still got it- in an Alpine, no less, a solid mid-field car, beating out the likes of Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari, all of which are much faster cars. Shows what a good driver can do with a bit of luck and a team with a good strategy.
And honestly, that was one of the best races this season. Everyone expected Qatar to be a boring procession with no overtakes, which, uh… heh. Yeah. There was fighting all through the midfield for the whole distance, even if Hamilton and Verstappen had a leisurely Sunday drive up front. I hope this track returns in the future, it was a shoe-in to replace a dropped track but turned out to be a great place for racing.