Alonso and Vettel lock horns over F1 'title' of a different kind

F1 champions Fernando Alonso and Sebastian Vettel may not be vying for drivers' title success this season but the two are locked in combat for a particular crown.

Midway through the current season, F1 announced the introduction of an overtake award to be claimed by the driver with the most passes across the campaign.

With just three races remaining, two-time title-winner Alonso leads by two passes on 114, with four-time champion Vettel on 112.

Informed he currently leads the way as 'king of the overtakes', Alonso said: “I would love to start a bit further up and make no overtakes and be in the top three constantly but it seems that on Sundays we are a little bit more competitive than on Saturdays.

“That is the general rule this year, that we struggle a bit more on a single lap than on race pace. Maybe that is also a consequence of this number."

Jokingly, the Spaniard added: "I need to get a bit more info on what could be the prize at the end so we can push a little bit more in the last few races.”

On 107, Lance Stroll and Kimi Raikkonen are tied third with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo also with three-figure totals.

Despite his high standing, Aston Martin's Vettel conceded: “Last race I think I was probably the one who got overtaken the most! I don’t know if there is a stat for that.

“It always depends on where you start. We had many races where we started a lot further back and probably had more overtakes to do. It’s very tight in the midfield and it is enjoyable when you race the people around you but I don’t know.

“It sounds like a big number. I don’t think I recall all of them and some of them for sure haven’t been as exciting as others.”

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