New league leaders Hamilton joined Alonso on lap 55 of 70 in Budapest and former McLaren teammates battled wheel to wheel, including a brief touch, until a suspension for Alonso allowed the seven-time champion to find a way to fourth at curve 1.
Alpine rider Alonso hypothesized that the pair’s 10-lap dogfight had allowed Hamilton to learn his rival’s superior line in the final sector, which the Briton then took to quickly defeat Sainz for a podium with five laps to go to reach.
Alonso said, “I honestly thought I couldn’t hold it for more than a round or two. But in the final corners he seemed to be having a little trouble following me.
“Then it was enough to open a gap on the straight and defend it.
“I think he learned a few different lines in the last three corners after the 10 laps behind me.
“He could only overtake Carlos on one lap and apply these new lines.”
The hard-tire Alonso made it clear that his Alpine team had not explicitly instructed him to slow down Hamilton and drive the faster middle mix, but instead knew that he had to defend himself against the Mercedes after he “saw the situation” on the “ largest television screens ”around the track.
That, Alonso said, was “gold” for his teammate Esteban Ocon to secure his first Grand Prix win after holding back Sebastian Vettel – Aston Martin’s runner-up was later disqualified for not providing an adequate fuel sample had.
Alonso added: “The team didn’t tell me anything.
“[But] I knew that I could hold him back on every lap, that was gold for Esteban’s victory. “
The Spaniard, who predicted an incident at Turn 1 after qualifying in ninth behind Ocon, admitted that he was “just lucky” not to be picked up by Lance Stroll after the Aston Martin driver drove over the wet grass and Charles Leclerc had eliminated before marking Daniel Ricciardo.
However, Alonso made it clear that when he came out sixth after the shunts, having swapped his race start intermediate tires for mid-size Pirellis, it was “not a gift” of the positions.
He said, “I was fortunate enough not to finish my race on Turn 1 like some people did. We take this top 5 – it’s my best result of the year.
“That wasn’t a gift, because I have to fight for every single position every single lap. I’m proud of my race and ‘Driver of the Day’ probably shows that. “
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The two-time champion added that he initially “had the pace to win” before he was “won over by the podium”.
He said, “I probably had the pace to win the race, or so it seems when you see the race track. [After closing the gap to Sainz], I was so confident of the podium.
“I drove the fastest laps in the race and thought I was going to overtake them and try to win the race. That was my thought at that moment.
“Then I realized that it might not be possible to win the race.
“In terms of strength, it wasn’t enough, especially when the speed was lacking on the straight.
“I thought at the time that I could protect myself from Hamilton and only finish fourth if I was right behind Carlos with the DRS.”
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