"One of my best battles, even more because it was against you, my idol as a kid": Sergio Perez's heartfelt message to fellow F1 driver

Sergio Perez recently wrote a heartfelt message to fellow F1 driver Fernando Alonso, stating that the latter was his idol as a kid. The two recently had a brilliant wheel-to-wheel battle at the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP.

In response to Checo's message, the 42-year-old veteran driver also wrote a touching note, labeling the 33-year-old as a 'champion on and off circuit'. These messages were written on photographs clicked by Kym Illman, one of F1's most renowned photographers, which showed Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso racing side by side to the finish line at Interlagos this year.

After Kym was able to get both drivers to write their messages, he shared them on TikTok in a video. In one of the photos, Sergio Perez wrote:

“Fer [Fernando Alonso], one of my best battles, even more because it was against you, my idol as a kid.”

In response, Fernando Alonso penned:

“Checo [Sergio Perez], always a pleasure to share the track with you. Champion on and off circuit. Hug."

Both drivers had an intense race with each other in the last few laps of the Brazilian GP for P3. They even exchanged positions several times before the last lap, giving fans an excellent spectacle. Eventually, Alonso finished on the last podium place despite Sergio Perez's best efforts.

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Sergio Perez says Fernando Alonso 'deserved' P3 in Brazil

Even though Sergio Perez was unable to steal third place from Fernando Alonso in the Brazilian GP, he was happy to race alongside the Spaniard in an intense but fair battle. Speaking after the race, the Red Bull driver said:

"It was quite an intense battle. We tried everything. Unfortunately, we didn’t succeed on that, but it was well deserved for Fernando. I think we had a great fight, very fair and to the limit. I think this is something that a lot of drivers can learn from because what we did, the way we fought today, it’s how it should be done."

"I’m on the wrong side, I end up losing but it’s fine because it was a great fight. We’ve seen in the last couple of races that the pace has been there, that we’ve been really strong, and for some reason or another we haven’t been able to get the final end result, but I just know that it’s a matter of time," he added.

At the finish line, both of their cars were only 0.053 seconds away from each other. The gap between the two in this season's driver standings, however, is way more prominent. Perez sits second with 273 points — three places and 73 points ahead of Alonso.