"He's so brilliant, but he needs to tell everyone": Fernando Alonso proclaiming that F1 Japanese GP was one of his top 5 drives amuses F1 pundit

F1 pundit Edd Straw was amused by Fernando Alonso ranking his performance at the 2024 F1 Japanese GP as one of the top five races of his entire career.

Fernando Alonso is the oldest F1 driver in the current 2024 F1 grid. He has been racing in the sport since 2001 and has won 32 races and two world championships. In the 2024 F1 Japanese GP, the Aston Martin driver qualified in P5 and finished the race in P6. Though the position was not something to write home about, the Spaniard was pleased with it and publicly claimed it to be one of his top five races.

Speaking on The Race F1 podcast, F1 pundits Edd Straw, Scott Mitchell Malm, and Mark Hughes were quite fascinated by him ranking the Japanese GP so high, especially considering his long career where he had several great race wins. Scott Mitchell Malm added that since Alonso believed the AMR24 car to be the fifth-fastest, he was quite pleased with the result at Suzuka.

Edd Straw said that statements like these from Fernando Alonso are usually accepted particularly because of his on-track brilliance and off-track humorous nature. He added that even though he is a great driver, he indirectly mentions it in public.

"It would be far less funny if he was not brilliant. It's that amazing fact with him as I think I've mentioned before, that he is so brilliant, but he needs to tell everyone. There is something fascinating, psychologically about that," Straw said.

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Fernando Alonso extremely pleased with his result in the 2024 F1 Japanese Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso was delighted with how the 2024 F1 Japanese GP panned out for him. He had decent first and third practice sessions and qualified P5 for the main race. In the Grand Prix, he managed to use the DRS cleverly to keep himself ahead of some top team drivers. He eventually finished P6, ahead of both Mercedes drivers and McLaren's Oscar Piastri.

Speaking to Sky Sports, the Aston Martin driver claimed that it was one of his best races. He even went so far as to say that it was in the top five races of his career.

“I think it was one of my best races, or my best weekends. I think it was very complete and very strong, very solid since free practice to the race, maybe the best of the last year or maybe even top five of my career,” Alonso said.

After the race in Japan, Fernando Alonso stands in eighth position in the 2024 F1 drivers' championship table with 24 points. He is ahead of his old rival Lewis Hamilton, who is in ninth with only 10 points.