Fernando Alonso was back on the Formula 1 podium at the end of the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, and while he is happy with the result, the Aston Martin driver wants more now.
Four podiums in five races, a result neither Aston Martin nor Fernando Alonso would’ve dreamed off at the start of the 2023 F1 season, but five races in, it has become a reality that the British team has come a long way from 2022.
Alonso did not reach the podium in the previous race in Azerbaijan, and his chances of a top three finish in Miami was looking bleak up until qualifying, when Max Verstappen and Charles Leclerc messed up their qualifying sessions, the first by failing to put a banker lap, the second by crashing and bringing out the Red Flags.
With Leclerc out of the running, and Verstappen unable to put in a timed lap after the Red Flag, Alonso found himself starting the race on Sunday from the front row alongside Red Bull’s Sergio Perez.
However, he was wary of talking up his chances, and knew a rampant Verstappen will be coming through the field on a mission, predicting to see the Dutchman in his mirrors by lap 25, but as good as the two-time F1 Champion is at reading race conditions, he was wrong on that as Verstappen caught and passed him by lap 14.
Nothing could be done against the Bulls
However, Alonso did the smart thing and refrained from fighting the #1 RB19, knowing there was no hope from doing so, and did his own race to a fourth podium, something he appreciated, but is now yearning for more.
“At the beginning of the year a podium was amazing, but now we want more,” the 41-year-old said after the race in parc ferme.
“I had a bit of a lonely afternoon out there, but I enjoyed my race,” he later added in Aston Martin‘s post race media brief.
“There was nothing I could really do against Max [Verstappen] and Sergio [Perez] but, happily, there was no pressure today from behind, so we’ll take this result,” Alonso added.
“We’ve taken four podium finishes from the first five races – and only missed out on a podium in Baku by eight tenths of a second – so it’s been a fantastic start to our season.
“One day, when there’s an opportunity to win, we need to make sure we’re in the best position to capitalise. And that’s exactly what we’re doing right now,” the veteran F1 driver, chasing his 33rd F1 victory, concluded.