Alonso: This was the best race of my life

Fernando Alonso fought back from a crippling double puncture on the first lap of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix to pit and then record a respectable seventh place in a race where the safety car had a significant part to play on proceedings.

The Spaniard recovered from the early setback which almost ended his race and when speaking to journalists afterwards he claimed that he was the only driver on the grid who had the persistence to get back out and finish the race, adding that it was one of his best-ever performances in Formula 1

He said: "Very crazy. Another seventh place but I think today was the result of persistence and pride, because I think no one would have reached the pitlane, first of all.

"They would have parked the car and if they could reach the pitlane they would have retired the car.

"But we didn't park or retire the car and fought for every tenth, every lap, close to the walls all race long and, I think it was the best race of my life."

Alonso added that him making it to the pitlane after the incident was 'a mircale' and that he is grateful for the points gained given the nature of his start.

He stated: "I'm happy with the points. It was probably one of the best races that I've done in a long time, or the best race of my life. I reached the pitlane thanks to a miracle. I didn't have two wheels or front wing or floor or anything.

"They changed the tyres and they told me the car was heavily damaged so I thought I wouldn't be able to finish or that I would be very slow.

"But I started overtaking cars and then with the safety car I gained some positions in the end."

Alonso fencing it on his way into the pits with a double puncture pic.twitter.com/jboSoj4HKN — DarcyF1 Multimedia (@darcyf1) April 29, 2018