'After 4 podiums we obviously want more' says Alonso after taking P3 in Miami

Aston Martin's Fernando Alonso scored his fourth podium in five races with a consummate performance in the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, but the two-time champion was clearly itching for a win…

Alonso qualified a stunning second on the grid in a Saturday session that saw Charles Leclerc crash out, Max Verstappen qualify ninth, and Sergio Perez take pole position. Verstappen ended up making a terrific recovery to win the race ahead of Perez, while Alonso finished 26 seconds of the pace in P3 – but seven seconds ahead of fourth-place finisher George Russell.

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“The car is amazing, and [it was] a little bit of a lonely race, today," he said. "Nothing really to do in front of us with the Red Bulls and behind us. We did expect a little bit stronger opposition, but the Ferraris, they were a little bit worse than expected. It’s not easy, it’s never easy, but it was a lonely race."

With his first podium in the United States since 2012 and his fourth podium of this season, Alonso was clearly delighted. He did, however, admit that he wanted more.

“I think at the beginning of the year a podium was amazing; now after four podiums we obviously want more, at least a second place," Alonso said. "But the two Red Bulls they are always unbreakable, and always super-fast, but as I said, maybe Monaco, maybe Barcelona we have a possibility.

“We take the podium going into the triple[-header], Imola, Monaco and Barcelona, which hopefully we can keep on going.”

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Team mate Lance Stroll was eliminated in Q1 on Saturday but from P18 on the grid he made up six places and finished 12th.

The Canadian said: “Yeah, I mean, it was just not our weekend. Yesterday we had a bad qualifying, did what we could today – but a tough one.

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“Just really tough to overtake and a DRS train the whole way, so it was just a tough one."

Having taken 15 points from Miami, Aston Martin retain P2 in the standings heading into Imola – but third-place constructors Mercedes closed the gap on their customer team having hauled in 20 points on Sunday.