Fernando Alonso reveals plot to 'confuse' Gabriel Bortoleto in defensive masterclass

Fernando Alonso has explained his ploy to "confuse" Gabriel Bortoleto in the closing stages of the Austrian Grand Prix.

The Aston Martin driver ultimately prevailed in his task of holding onto seventh position at the Red Bull Ring, following a tense battle with the driver whose career he manages.

Having utilised the offset one-stop strategy to vault his AMR25 up from P11 on the grid, the two-time F1 drivers' champion was left fighting off his protégé, whose Stake was considerably faster on fresher tyres.

Despite failing to get past his mentor, Bortoleto's eighth position marks the first points of his F1 career - and the first time a Brazilian has scored points in the championship since Felipe Massa at the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Whilst he was thrilled for Bortoleto on a landmark weekend early in his F1 tenure, Alonso had to use all the weapons at his disposal to preserve his position - and the six points that accompanied it.

He also credited two competitors for helping him stave off the 2024 F2 drivers' champion: Liam Lawson; who also took advantage of the alternate strategy to achieve the best finish of his career this far in sixth, and race winner Lando Norris; who lapped the pair, ending their afternoon one lap early, thus protecting the Spaniard's position.

"It was a tough race," the 43-year-old told media, including RacingNews365, when reflecting on the round in Spielberg.

"We didn't have the pace this weekend, but we still managed a very good race, I think, first thanks to Liam [Lawson].

"Because I took the DRS on lap 3. On lap 70, I was still in his DRS. I was just doing qualifying laps from Turn 4 to Turn 9,  to the detection [point], and then after the detection in 9, I had the detection in 1, detection in 3, and then every lap was the same sequence."

When recognising Norris' contribution to his result, Alonso detailed how he had sought to throw Bortoleto off his scent.

"And then at the end, Gabriel was a lot faster," the 32-time grand prix winner said. "I thought, honestly, I could not defend, but luckily enough, Lando [Norris] came just at the right moment, blue flags.

"And because Lando overtook us, the next lap was the chequered flag, because we got lapped. So, it was a perfect combination - and a lucky race to finish P7, to be honest...

"I didn't want to pass Lando, but I could not stay just behind Lando, because then Gabriel would pass me, so I had to try different moves to confuse Gabriel a little bit about what I was doing and at what point."