Alonso: I will try to get on the podium in Miami

Fernando Alonso took 4th place in Baku, after which he admitted that the Aston Martin car was not as competitive on the city circuit in Azerbaijan’s capital as it had been in earlier stages of the season, but promised that he would again compete for the podium in Miami .

Fernando Alonso: “Everything went great! It was another race where we managed to gain back positions – I started sixth and finished fourth. First I was ahead of Lewis Hamilton and then one of the Ferrari cars, so in the end we scored more points than the Mercedes team, our main rivals in the Constructors’ Championship.

However, we still finished one second off the top three, but in Miami we will make the next attempt to climb the podium.

The weekend wasn’t easy and we don’t hide the fact that we weren’t as competitive in Baku as we were in the first three stages of the season. But despite the difficulties, I believe our team worked confidently and was fully prepared to face any challenges. And the fact that we came just short of the podium speaks volumes about the determination of everyone at Aston Martin.

In general, I am satisfied with the result and the pace of the car – after all, it was at a good level. And if, even during a not very successful weekend for us, we fought for the podium with the Ferrari driver who won pole position, that’s good news.

If we talk about overtaking Carlos Sainz, I could have beaten him in the 3rd corner, but in the end I did it in the 4th. Why the car was so fast in the race I cannot explain exactly. Although this is an important point because it’s always difficult to overtake a Ferrari, but after that I ended up behind Charles Leclerc.

During the race there were some problems in turns 15 and 16 due to the wind blowing from the same direction. In addition, we were not fast enough on the straights all weekend, but one of the advantages of our car is that the rubber degradation on it is not too severe. Unfortunately, this time the hard tires on all teams’ cars survived to the finish, but let’s see what happens in Miami.

I was one second behind Charles Leclerc and in such a situation there is always the risk that at some point you lose control of the car. A few times I tried to attack him, but as I approached him, the car started to deviate from the track. Eventually I stopped such attempts, mainly because he kept a clearer rhythm and it was impossible to get ahead of him.

During the race, Alonso advised Lance Stroll, his partner, on the radio through his engineer to choose the correct brake balance, and after the finish he commented on this episode: “From Thursday we talked a lot about tactics. But if already on the track it turns out that there is an important point that we have not discussed, but it can help a partner, then we report it.

It’s always been that way. I understand that my career won’t last that long and Lance can be the leader of the team for the next 10 or 15 years, so I hope I can help him. I’ve helped teammates before, only radio messages like that didn’t make it into the race broadcasts. But now Formula 1 has become nicer to me.”