“Little bit of a lonely race” - Fernando Alonso takes a jibe at ‘worse than expected’ Ferrari after P3 finish in Miami

Fernando Alonso secured his fourth podium with yet another P3 finish, this time at the 2023 Miami Grand Prix, behind the two Red Bulls.

The Spaniard started second and had a rather lonely race over the course of the 57 laps. His Aston Martin simply did not have the pace to match the significantly dominant Red Bulls of Sergio Perez and championship leader Max Verstappen.

Alonso pulled off some impressive moves on Carlos Sainz, who started the race behind him in P3. The Aston Martin driver previously predicted that it would take Verstappen approximately 25 laps to catch up to him from P9 in the starting grid, although the Dutchman pulled it off in under 15 laps.

In a post-race media interaction, Fernando Alonso said:

"The car is amazing and it was a bit of a lonely race today. Nothing really to do with the Red Bulls in front of us, and the Ferraris were a little bit worse than expected today. It's never easy, but it was a lonely race.

"Everything was fine, we take the podium, and going into Imola, Monaco, and Barcelona, we hope to keep going. At the beginning of the year, a podium was amazing, but now we want more."

Haas team principal describes Fernando Alonso as "older than God" as he emphasizes his talent

Fernando Alonso

Haas team principal Guenther Steiner was all praise for two-time world champion Fernando Alonso in his book. In it, he described the driver as one who always gives his "100 percent" week after week.

The Spaniard has had a dream journey in motorsport, having returned to F1 with an absolute bang in 2021. He made his way up to a point where he is in a position to fight for podiums if not potential wins.

In his book, Steiner wrote:

“It's what separates the good drivers from the 'top'. Look at Fernando, he is older than God and every week, he gives 100 percent. He is always motivated. He, even in a sh**ty situation, he will extract something good and push his team to improve. He is a talisman. Sometimes, a bit grumpy, but a talisman."

He added:

"And he doesn't have to do this because he must have thousands of euros in the bank. He could go live on an island anywhere. But that's not what you want because you're not done here yet. This year is impressive and for me, it is the reference, the example of what a competitive driver needs.”

The only race of the season so far where Fernando Alonso did not finish on the podium was the Azerbaijan Grand Prix last weekend, where he just missed out on P3 and finished fourth.