“I Will Buy You Beers”: Fernando Alonso Stays True to His Word After Making a Bold Promise to Aston Martin Before the Race

The Silverstone-based outfit would have been devastated when Sebastian Vettel chose to retire last year. However, the team was destined to have another champion player join the squad. Following back-to-back podium finishes, the Aston Martin now finds it all to be a fairytale. Nevertheless, things weren’t as easy as they appeared, but Fernando Alonso, a “man of his word,” managed to pull it off with his incredible talent. And now the whole Aston Martin Squad will wait for him at the Australian Grand Prix. So, what’s the deal?

Fernando Alonso once again brought the team to the podium at the Saudi GP after his heroics in Bahrain. The 41-year-old displayed some impressive talents by seizing the lead at the first corner after the lights went out. However, after they brought in the safety car, the two-time champion quickly found him at P2.

The delight that Alonso’s podium triumph has provided the team will also prompt the Spaniard to dig deep into his wallet. Alonso revealed to have made a promise to the team which he will be keeping in the upcoming race in Melbourne.

During the post-race interview, Spaniard said, “I told the team If I go first in the first corner I will buy you beers in Australia, so now I need to invite everybody in Australia, but I think we have a picture of Aston Martin leading the race and that is very good news.”

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The fact that they briefly took away Alonso’s podium, though, did not make him happy at all. Nonetheless, the two-time winner eventually triumphed and happily took his 100th podium home. But one might think what happened during that brief time?

How did Fernando Alonso receive his 100th podium?

Max Verstappen’s display of the RB19’s lightning-quick pace led to Fernando Alonso’s third-place result. The Spaniard, who is now only the sixth driver in the group, celebrated his 100th podium finish there. The 100th podium, though, wasn’t a simple feat for Alonso because he had to deal with the previous drama.

Alonso received two penalties: a five-second first one for starting on the wrong side of the grid during the race, and a ten-second 2nd one for serving the first one erroneously. His ten-second penalty cost him his podium spot, dropping him to third place for a short period. FIA restored Alonso’s podium finish when the Aston Martin team requested a review of the latter penalty.

Alonso, while talking to Sky Sports, said, “I was on the podium, I did pictures, I took the trophy, I celebrated with champagne and now I have apparently three points less I don’t have 15, I have 12. But I think it’s more of an FIA poor show today, more than disappointment from ourselves. You cannot apply a penalty 35 laps after the pit stop.”

Then later, after the Stewards confirmed his podium, Alonso said, “I am happy in the end with the result tonight and our second podium.”

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As evidenced by their performance at the Jeddah circuit, the Aston Martin team is currently the second fastest. Having said that, do you believe that the current podium standings will persist in the future? Or do you believe that Ferrari and Mercedes have the ability to upset the established order?