"We must promote clean driving": Fernando Alonso on winning the 'Action of the Year' award for his battle with Sergio Perez in Brazil

Fernando Alono recently won the Action of the Year award at the 2023 FIA prize-giving ceremony. This category considers some of the most thrilling racing moments in every racing series governed by the FIA and chooses the most thrilling one of them all. This year, the tight battle between Sergio Perez and Fernando Alonso at the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP for third place was crowned the winner of the award.

Since Alonso himself was not available to receive the award in person, a video message was played at the event where the 42-year-old Spaniard thanked everyone for the award. He warmly shared the award with Checo, stating how close racing is always a collaborative task.

"Big thanks for voting me the Action of the Year [award] for my battle with Sergio in Brazil. I also want to thank and and share this award with Sergio, any battle on track need the collaboration of two," he said.

Fernando Alonso further hopes that that particular wheel-to-wheel battle will not only become an example of racing for current drivers but for future generations as well. He concluded:

"I think this should be an example not only for present but also for future generations, where we must promote clean driving without any contact between cars. So hopefully see you next year with more action on track thanks to all the fans and thanks again FIA as well for taking care of us, and see you soon."

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Sergio Perez on the thrilling battle with Fernando Alonso in Brazil

Sergio Perez was involved in an intense but fair on-track battle with Fernando Alonso at the Brazilian GP. Even though the Red Bull driver lost to Alonso, he was happy to have such a close wheel-to-wheel battle with the Spaniard. After the race, Checo gave his views on the race to the media.

"It was quite an intense battle. We tried everything," he said. "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.

In the last few laps of the 2023 F1 Brazilian GP, both drivers were fighting for the last podium place. Checo and Alonso kept exchanging places and gave the fans a thrilling wheel-to-wheel battle right to the finish line.