Fernando Alonso reckons he’s moved to “another level" in his comeback season after scoring his first Formula 1 podium in seven years in the inaugural Qatar Grand Prix.

Double world champion Alonso, who returned to F1 this season with Alpine after a two-year hiatus, has been in sparkling form all weekend in Losail, the Spaniard loving the track layout and showing supreme pace throughout all the sessions.
 

He made a great getaway from third on the grid – having inherited two positions because of penalties for Max Verstappen and Valtteri Bottas – to leap into second – and while he ultimately lost a position to the recovering Verstappen, he was able to hold off the chasing Sergio Perez to take his first podium since Hungary 2014.
 

“Probably as a weekend in general, this one was the best as Friday, Saturday, Sunday was very consistent,” said Alonso. “The last part of this 2021 is another level compared to the first part. I’m happy with this year of comeback and this preparation into next year is definitely another level now.”