Mark Webber reveals what makes Fernando Alonso so special

Former F1 driver Mark Webber stated that two-time world champion and Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso has a mix of pace and intelligence and is always thinking of making life difficult for his rivals during a race.

Alonso and Webber raced alongside each other for the better part of a decade and were involved in some of the iconic battles on the track, including the Spaniard's pass on Webber at the Eau Rogue in 2011.

Speaking to RacingNews365, the Aussie said:

"He always tries to be unpredictable, in the good sense of the word. In a fair way. Also, he tries to manipulate your racing lines and send dirty air to your car. Fernando is someone who is constantly thinking, 'How can I make it as difficult as possible for you?' Whether he is attacking or defending, he is brilliant at this! I was able to learn a lot from him while racing against each other, although sometimes I got it right, sometimes he got it right.

"He was magic at mixing it up, keeping the pace really high and wasn't overly predictable. He was just a total animal. Although I was never intimidated by it but I think I was pretty similar. It was never something that the teams had to worry about with us."

"It is painful when it happens" - Max Verstappen on Fernando Alonso's penalty

Reigning double world champion and Red Bull driver Max Verstappen sympathized with Fernando Alonso after the latter was penalized for his grid slot infringement at the Saudi Arabian GP.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, Verstappen said:

"The visibility is just really poor in the car, that is probably the main issue where you end up sometimes not fully correctly in your box. It is painful when it happens but it's a bit the same with the white line with track limits. Sometimes you argue: did you gain anything going wide or not, going outside of it?"

"I think at one point we do need a rule. It looks really silly if people start to take advantage of going really left and right but I don't know what we can do better."

Fernando Alonso was given a five-second penalty during the early stages of the race after he was found guilty of positioning his car incorrectly during the race's start. The Aston Martin driver was able to take the lead after Turn 1 but eventually finished in P3.