Alonso almost most experienced driver after P6 in France

Fernando Alonso broke Kimi Raikkonen 's record for the most laps driven with his third lap in the French Grand Prix. The Spaniard eventually took P6 and looks back on a good fight with the rivals at McLaren.

Alpine takes lead over McLaren

With Alonso's P6 and teammate Esteban Ocon's P8, Alpine took P4 in the championship at its home race in France. Alpine is up against McLaren for the 'best of the rest' title in the constructors' category and has caught up with the competition. At the start, Alonso got away very quickly and was able to dictate the race from there. There wasn't much for him to get in front, but behind him was Lando Norris.

Speaking to F1.com the Alpine driver said, "I am very happy! The start was really mega; from P7 to P5. It was some risky moves, but from there it came down to good tyre management. P6 was the maximum today." In his third lap, Alonso passed Raikkonen's 18621 laps driven. The Spaniard now holds the record for the most laps driven in F1 with 18672. Lewis Hamilton (in third place) is a good 1500 laps behind Alonso. Later in the year Alonso will also overtake Raikkonen's record for the most GPs driven. Currently Alonso has only four less on the counter. That means that after the Singapore GP he has driven the most races. Then Alonso will be the most experienced driver, because in terms of kilometres driven the Spaniard is already on top.

Alonso puts his experience to good use in France

The Alpine driver made his experience count in France. Alonso: "I have done about 350 races, so I know what I am doing! It was fun and at the start it was crucial to get in front of Lando. I think McLaren had the same pace, but being in front of them in the first few laps was enough to dictate the race and the speed. I think we played the race like a game of chess. We tried to keep the McLarens close to us and have free air in front of us ourselves. It was a good Sunday."