Focus Alonso not on Red Bull: 'We have to accept that'

With no safety cars, Fernando Alonso finished 26 seconds behind race winner Max Verstappen in Miami. The Aston Martin driver was thus less than half a second per lap slower than the reigning world champion over a full race. Alonso does that well.

Not before 2023 was the AMR23 so close to the pace of the RB19. However, the difference of some four and half tenths is still far too much and so Alonso knows he is mainly fighting with the Ferraris and Mercedes. That is also where the focus will remain this year, he told the press conference after the weekend in the United States.

Focus Alonso on consolidating

"I think the year is going to be difficult," Alonso says when asked if there are any circuits where Aston Martin can get even closer to Red Bull. "The gap is quite big even though I think today has been our best race pace yet in the season. We finish, I think, closest to the leaders, no safety cars, nothing in the race and we’re still quite fast. So let's see."

The 41-year-old Spaniard is pinning his hopes on updates, updates that are also still to stay ahead of Ferrari and Mercedes. "Hopefully some of the tracks we will be a little bit closer to them. And some of the upgrades that we will bring later in the season maybe put us in a different or more competitive position. But I think our main focus, to be honest, is just looking behind and trying to keep Mercedes and Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship under control."

Nobody does it better than Red Bull

As much as Alonso would like to fight for his third world title. As long as nothing happens on track with Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez, the lowest step of the podium remains the maximum achievable for Aston Martin. " I think Red Bull, we have to accept they are doing a better job than everyone else and we need to do a better job."