Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant Formula 1 Team’s Fernando Alonso secured his fourth podium of the season at the Miami Grand Prix after what he described as a “lonely” race, with Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez far ahead and George Russell a comfortable distance behind in fourth.
Alonso started the race on the front row, but was unable to challenge Perez and his mighty RB19 for the lead. He held onto second place until lap fifteen, when Verstappen overtook for the position, having charged through the pack from ninth place.
Though unable to compete with the pace of the Red Bulls, Alonso was satisfied with another solid third place finish.
“I had a bit of a lonely afternoon out there, but I enjoyed my race. There was nothing I could really do against Max and Sergio but, happily, there was no pressure today from behind, so we’ll take this result.”
With an impressive streak of results– four third place finishes and one fourth– Alonso feels that the team is on track to claim a victory when the opportunity arises.
“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.”
“It was a tough race today” – Lance Stroll
Team-mate Lance Stroll hasn’t able to claim any points at Miami International Autodrome, having had a difficult time recovering from his starting position of eighteenth place due to traffic coming through the field.
“It was a tough race today and we found it difficult to make a huge amount of progress from 18th on the grid. The car felt good, but I was stuck in a DRS train with a lot of traffic around me.”
Stroll started on the hard tyres, which was a common choice of drivers starting lower on the grid. He said that he was able to run well on the hard compound, but felt that, in hindsight, the team should have pitted him earlier to give him more time to make up places on the medium set.
After finishing twelfth, Stroll said that there is much knowledge to be gained by reviewing his result in Miami, and that he is already anticipating his next time out at the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
“We opted for a long stint on the Hard tyres and managed those well; it was then just a case of deciding when to pit to make sure there were enough laps left to maximise the pace of the Medium compound.”
“I had some fun overtaking Alex [Albon] into Turn One but, in hindsight, we could have boxed a few laps earlier to try and catch 10th position. It’s been a weekend to learn from – which we’ll do – and I’m looking forward to getting back out in Imola.”
