Organisers of the Miami Grand Prix say that a night race for the 2024 edition of the event is an “unlikely” scenario.

Miami has a long-term future in place with the sport, with this year’s race being the second grand prix as part of a 10-year contract.

During the May event earlier this year, Miami Dolphins CEO Tom Garfinkel confirmed that there had been discussions with F1 over the possibility of turning the race into a nighttime event.

But the transition to a race under the lights will not happen for next year’s Miami race, which will take place on the first weekend in May.

“We’ve talked about: ‘Could we do this? Does this make sense?’” said Miami GP president Tyler Epp, as quoted by The Athletic.

“We didn’t really get too deep into the analysis because at some point, it’s, why are you doing it?

“Like, let’s make sure there’s a justifiable reason. [It’s] very unlikely we would do it for 2024. We will continue to evaluate. 

“We’re always looking at ways to make the experience better.  

“If we get to the place where Formula 1 says this really does work for us from a broadcast perspective, and this makes a lot of sense, certainly we’ll take a look at it.”

F1 currently has a number of nighttime events, including the Las Vegas Grand Prix, which will be held for the first time along the famous strip later this year.

However, such a decision for Miami would require increased investment to install suitable floodlights around the track.

But Epp says his primary focus is on building Miami’s identity in F1 rather than jumping on the trend of being a night race. 

“Miami is our brand, and we try to bring that out with the circuit,” he added. “Vegas will be a night race as well. Singapore certainly has their spot on the calendar. 

“I can’t tell you what their decisions are and why they are. For us, we’re pretty committed to being Miami, day or night.”  

Christian Horner has praised Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez for racing “firmly but fairly” during the Miami Grand Prix last weekend.

Perez started the race from pole position, while Verstappen was forced to line up in ninth place on the grid.

However, Verstappen eased through his competition and soon found himself in the lead of the race but yet to take his one and only pit stop of the race.

After pitting for fresh Medium tyres, he closed up to the back of Perez and attacked his team-mate for the lead, successfully completing the overtake at Turn 1.

Perez defended his position, but the tyre advantage possessed by Verstappen was enough to see the Dutchman past for what was the race-winning manoeuvre.

Dr Helmut Marko clarified after the race that there were no team orders during the fight, with Horner pleased to see that the drivers showed respect to one another.

“We discussed it this morning, I said to them you’re free to race, but just keep it clean, and respect the team and respect each other,” he said. 

“I felt they did that today. They raced firmly but fairly, and they gave each other enough space and respect.”

Perez entered the race weekend just six points behind Verstappen in the Drivers’ Championship and hoped to take the lead of the standings for the first time in his career after Miami.

Despite losing ground in the hunt for the title, Horner denies that the result is a blow to the Mexican’s championship hopes.

“I think it’s swings and roundabouts of sport. A week ago [in Baku], he would have been on a high [after his race win],” Horner said. 

“I don’t think he’ll be too disappointed, he’s still taken away 18 points from here. I don’t think there’s anybody that would have beaten Max today.”

Max Verstappen became the first driver since Niki Lauda 39 years ago to win a Formula 1 race from ninth on the grid and in the process landed a huge blow to Sergio Perez’s aspirations of gunning for his maiden World Championship.

The Mexican’s double triumph in Azerbaijan the previous weekend had reduced Verstappen’s advantage in the standings to only six points, setting up an intriguing weekend on F1’s second visit to the Miami International Autodrome.

Understandably, a media frenzy was being whipped up that a rejuvenated Perez could compete, that he could bear the current-day answer to Nico Rosberg in providing opposition to another processional, one-sided title duel in 2023. But amid the hysteria, it was forgotten how formidable a competitor Verstappen has developed into over the previous three seasons, with the Miami GP soon offering a reminder of why the man himself currently feels unbeatable.

With Perez starting in pole position and Verstappen down in ninth, the stage had set for the former to claim the championship lead for the first time in his career.

Verstappen had come through to beat his Red Bull stablemate and the rest of the opposition from nine different starting spots last year – an F1 record – but surely a revitalised Perez, boosted by his brace of victories in Baku, would not allow a driver eight places behind to topple him in 2023.

However, achieving a feat previously thought inconceivable is a habit the reigning champion has made of doing and he proceeded to do so once more to register the 38th victory of his F1 career – his 17th in the last 24 races – and tie Sebastian Vettel for the most race wins with Red Bull.

Despite a disappointing qualifying, Verstappen was instantly engaged in race preparation mode, pondering with his engineer the potential to start on the Hard tyre rather than the Medium; his request was granted, setting in motion the wheels for a landmark achievement.

Although he briefly lost a place to Valtteri Bottas, the Dutchman, recognising his superior car advantage, avoided getting caught up in contact to hold position at the end of Lap 1 before seamlessly beginning to pick off the cars ahead.

Regardless of how rapidly he could manoeuvre his way through the field, the blinding speed of Red Bull’s 2023 car meant Verstappen was effectively guaranteed a second-place finish even before the five lights had gone out on the gantry (should he stay out of trouble), having already come from P15 on the grid to finish behind only Perez in Saudi Arabia.

But Verstappen was not inclined to settle for second; he was charging for the win and the way he sliced his way past the slower traffic would become essential to his chances. Alonso had been right on the money with his assessment of how quickly Verstappen would recover to the front in Jeddah, yet even the 41-year-old’s estimations were slightly out this time.

There was urgency in the reigning World Champion’s moves but never a degree of recklessness. Of course, he retained the luxury of having the fastest car and much has been made of the frightening speed differential Red Bull possesses when the slot in the rear wing of its RB19 is open, but the way in which Verstappen tactically took advantage of Kevin Magnussen and Charles Leclerc’s dice to swoop past them both into Turn 1 was expertly set-up.

And it was that sort of clinical approach that paved the way for him to only be 5.5 seconds adrift of Perez by the time he navigated his way past Alonso up to second on lap 15.

Fitted with the more durable hard compound, he whittled the gap to Perez down to just above the one-second mark by the time Red Bull elected to bring the race leader into the pits. While Verstappen had masterfully slalomed his way through, Perez’s overly cautious approach initiated a failure to build a substantial buffer at the stage in which his team-mate was compromised, equated to an equally decisive factor to which Red Bull driver clinched their third win of 2023.

Nevertheless, the victory still remained in Perez’s hands at this tentative stage, provided he could continuously reduce Verstappen’s advantage on fresh rubber and build a big enough margin that the two-time champion would be unable to close down when he made his mandatory stop.

However, over the course of the following 24 laps, the gap largely remained the same as Verstappen produced a tyre preservation masterclass to match his team-mate’s lap times, leaving himself with only a 1.2s deficit to overhaul once he made his pit stop at the end of lap 45. Two courses of the circuit later and the lead was his, dancing round the outside of Perez into Turn 1 with ease and going on to record the fastest lap to extend his championship lead to 14 points.

Ultimately, Verstappen’s route to victory could be defined in two key stages: a combination of calculated race craft in the opening laps and then a demonstration of exceptional pace and tyre management the moment he occupied clear air.

The latter continues to be indisputably one of Verstappen’s most underrated assets. With perhaps the exception of Lewis Hamilton, there is nobody better on the current grid at maintaining a blistering pace in race trim whilst simultaneously caressing the life of a set of tires for a sustained period. Except for two timed runs that dipped slightly above, between laps 23 and 44 Verstappen was repeatedly lapping in the 1:31s, even dropping into the 1:30s on the penultimate lap before his pit stop as a statement of the pace he had in reserve.

Verstappen being capable of showcasing a metronomic level of consistency on ageing tires is nothing new, however. The Red Bull driver – discounting two VSC periods – lapped within a one-second target lap time between laps 27 and 71 in last year’s Mexico City Grand Prix to make a difficult race translate into a straightforward win.

Perez has synonymously been recognised as F1’s unofficial ‘tyre whisperer’ for his long-standing ability to take a set of tires longer than initially anticipated, but even the Mexican appears unable to hold a candle to the delicate feel his team-mate can have on the accelerator pedal without ever suffering from a noticeable drop in lap time.

The Miami GP only served to add another shining example to his ever-growing catalogue of comeback wins. But while the stark contrast in how the Red Bull pair handled the tires proved pivotal in Verstappen landing a decisive victory against his team-mate, Perez’s opportunity to steal a first win in the States always came about through circumstance rather than raw speed.

Fundamentally the disparity between them on the grid wasn’t reflective of their respective pace throughout the weekend, with Perez, who had been encountering troubles all through Friday, never looking as settled as Verstappen in the RB19 cockpit.

Without the mitigating factor of the red flag late in Q3 Verstappen would certainly have been on pole and sauntered away into the distance. But arguably the manner of his victory provided a more emphatic message than if he had started at the front and cruised to a comfortable win.

Perez was magnanimous after the race, accepting that he had been beaten by the better man on the day, but deep down it would have supplied a huge psychological blow after his Baku delight.

While Horner emphasises that there is a long way to go, race day in the Sunshine State felt like a watershed moment in the destiny of this year’s Drivers’ crown.

With his fourth consecutive win on American soil, Verstappen delivered a big statement of intent, and his point to the number one on his car in parc ferme appeared as much a silencing gesture to the pre-race boos as it was to the competition about their chances of displacing him at the top.

Horner’s comments post-race would suggest that Verstappen, wounded slightly by his Baku defeat, was desperate to address the balance of power instantaneously.

“He [Verstappen] definitely came out of Baku I think obviously disappointed,” Horner said. “And Checo was the faster guy there, particularly on Sunday.

“And I think he came here really wanting to reassert himself, and then, of course, he made a mistake in qualy, that then put him on the back foot. His pace in the race was quite outstanding.”

Heading back to Europe and a run of eight races in 11 weeks, Perez will need to hit back and ensure Verstappen doesn’t begin to gather the momentum that puts him out of sight before the summer break arrives.

When Red Bull’s car is so dominant, simply winning the odd race and coming home second on a bad weekend isn’t good enough to prevail, especially against a relentless results machine like Verstappen.

To do so he will need to extract a level of mental fortitude deeper than he’s ever dug before. When Rosberg’s early 43-point superiority turned into a 19-point deficit heading into the mid-season shutdown in 2016, the German responded with three successive wins to claw back the lead.

Although he needed a great degree of luck along the way to realise his childhood racing dream, Rosberg was always capable of challenging Hamilton on raw speed and was an example of an inferior driver pulling out every trick in the book to get one over on a driver whose shadow he had been cast in for multiple years beforehand.

While Perez has been in improved form this year, all five of the Guadalajara-born racer’s Red Bull wins have come on street circuits and he is yet to win without misfortune befalling Verstappen. Baku was his most assured performance in Red Bull colours but even that was slightly clouded by him inheriting the race lead when a Safety Car fell at the optimal time for him to profit.

During that run to the summer break the prestigious Monte Carlo circuit will be the only street course to contest and Horner has challenged Perez to earmark his championship credentials by converting his form onto more conventional venues.

With a Verstappen win next time out assuring him of increasing the points gap to nearly a race win’s worth of points at the very least, Perez desperately needs to conjure up a confidence-inspiring performance at the historic Imola circuit to reboot a title challenge that is showing signs of waning.

IndyCar CEO Mark Miles has criticised the claim that Formula 1 is the “greatest motorsport spectacle”, labelling it as a “crock of shit”.

Last time out the Miami Grand Prix, a pre-race show in which all drivers were individually introduced was held.

Rapper LL Cool J was behind the microphone during the ceremony, and stated, referring to F1: “This is the greatest spectacle in motorsports.”

However, the Indianapolis 500, which takes place every May, is known to carry the tag of ‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’, which is trademarked.

The pre-race ceremony didn’t go down well with Miles.

“I heard that,” Miles told IndyStar. “And my reaction was, ‘I’ll bet you race fans know that’s a crock of s***. 

‘The Greatest Spectacle in Racing’ is right here [at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway] in May, by every measure.  

“And I don’t expect [the potential trademark breach] to continue.”

Miles also revealed that he contacted F1 over its promotion of the upcoming Las Vegas Grand Prix, as it advertised the event as “the greatest racing spectacle on the planet”

“We had a little conversation with them when it was popping up around Vegas, and it was very informal and quick, so I was surprised by [the pre-race ceremony in Miami].

“But I don’t think that’s their general MO [modus operandi]. I’m not sure who the chain of people is for writing something like that that gets said on the mic, but I don’t believe it would come from as high up as [Stefano Domenicali].  

“I didn’t consider it a corporate policy, given our relationship.”

McLaren says that the Formula 1 round from Miami was a “reality check” for the team after it scored points in Baku.

The Woking-based squad endured a difficult weekend last time out in the USA, with both Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri eliminated in Q1 on Saturday.

The duo also struggled in the race and crossed the finished line towards the rear of the field.

Norris stated after the race that there were “different reasons” behind its lack of pace.

“The track doesn’t suit us, longer corners don’t suit us, the temperatures don’t suit us,” he said. “The track surface doesn’t suit us. There’s many different aspects to it all.”

McLaren’s dip in form at Miami came despite a series of upgrades that were introduced in Baku, where Norris finished in ninth place.

Team boss Andreas Stella says that the event in Miami bumped his squad back down to earth.

“The main takeaway is that after a decent weekend in Baku from a performance point of view, we had a reality check,” he said. 

“The information we gained here helps us understand that some development directions still need to be pursued, like improving the car in off-brakes, off-throttle. 

“At the moment, the car just doesn’t work in this condition. At tracks like this, this becomes too much of a limitation. So we take away some important learnings for development. 

McLaren’s day was also hindered by a brake-by-wire issue for Oscar Piastri.

“He needed to drive the entire race with a problem on the brake by wire [hydraulic system],” Stella said. “Oscar was excellent in being able to cope with it. 

“After having locked the tyres for three or four times, he kind of realised how we needed to adapt the way he was braking to this issue. So we have a learning from a performance point of view. We have learning from a reliability point of view.”

McLaren started both of its drivers on the Soft compound with the hope of making up some early positions on track.

Norris overtake several cars on the run into the first corner before he was hit by Nyck de Vries.

“Ultimately, this weekend, in the race we would have needed a good start. This was actually in place. Lando gained a few positions,” Stella commented. 

“But then he was hit by de Vries. This meant that from potentially P13 or something, he was again finding himself at the back of the group. 

“We would have needed today high degradation on tyres because we had allocated two hard tyres, but actually the degradation wasn’t as high as expected. 

“So one stop was possible for everyone. It was relatively easy. We would have needed today some events in the race, a safety car or so, but nothing happened. 

“So the limitations for a performance point of view could not overcome thanks to some situational elements and we go away with no points.”

Aston Martin team boss Mike Krack insists that podium results are not feeling “normal” despite its exceptional start to the 2023 Formula 1 campaign.

The team has taken four third-place finishes in the first five races, with all coming at the hands of Fernando Alonso.

The Silverstone-based squad has taken a sizeable step forward compared to 2022, when it finished seventh in the Constructors’ Championship.

It currently occupies second in the standings after its strong opening form – but Krack insists that it is not feeling like an ordinary result for the team.

“No, no, no, no, no – feet on the ground,” he said. “You should never take a podium in F1 as a normal or as a given. 

“It’s a lot of hard work involved to be on the podium, and you have very, very strong competitors in F1, very professional, and if you are not 100% in all areas at all times, then there is no podium.”

Alonso started the race in second place and was battling Carlos Sainz for position, before the Ferrari driver was issued a five-second time penalty for speeding in the pit lane.

Although Alonso’s place on the podium was in danger, Aston Martin didn’t call Alonso into the pits when Ferrari attempted an undercut on lap 18.

“We wanted to follow our plan and not get rushed into undercuts, because we are building a tyre advantage,” Krack said. 

“You must not forget, we didn’t know how long we could go with the Hards at this stage. 

“We did not want to overdo it and also we did not want to box into traffic, because then you run into dirty air and you overdo a bit the tyres. 

“I think it was a great call from the strategy team, from the tyre guys, to say let’s stay out, we still have faith in these tyres, and I think it paid off later in the race.

“That was a more logical strategy, because you want to have no downside on the first laps, and you have always the risk with a Safety Car later in the race, and then if you are on the hard, on the wrong tyre, that’s very dangerous.”

The Alpine Formula 1 team sustained its “best weekend of the year” at the Miami Grand Prix according to Pierre Gasly.

After scoring points in the opening two races, Alpine walked away from the previous two rounds scoreless, leading to CEO Laurent Rossi declaring an immediate improvement was required.

In Australia Gasly took both cars out of the top 10 with a clumsy re-join manoeuvre during a late restart, while the Enstone side’s Baku weekend was instantly hamstrung by reliability problems from the outset.

However, the Anglo-French outfit returned to form in Miami as Gasly qualified an excellent fifth before finishing eighth, with Ocon coming home behind in ninth.

Despite recording the second points of his Alpine stint in the United States, the ex-Red Bull affiliated driver was disappointed that excessive fuel-saving saw him relinquish positions to both Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc and the Mercedes of Lewis Hamilton late on.

“I think we tried to do the best we could during our race we had a great start, managed to pass P4 and I tried to keep up the pace with Sainz and Alonso in front of me but unfortunately, they were just faster than us today so we tried to do the best we could,” he said.

“Second stint I was running in P6 and with fifteen laps to go I had to do a lot of fuel saving which was a little annoying when you know you have a Ferrari and Mercedes behind catching and closing on you, so I wanted to give everything we could, but at the same time we needed to save the fuel.

“We could see Charles closing lap after lap and unfortunately with four laps to go he managed to pass. One side of it gutted not to get that P6, on the other if we fight one Ferrari and one Mercedes so close to the chequered flag, it really shows we made a big step forward this weekend.”

“Looking at the positive, double points finish for the team and hopefully, we can build up from there and close the gap.”

While Gasly praised the recovery Alpine managed only a week on from a strenuous weekend in Azerbaijan, the Frenchman says the team must ensure its improved competitiveness in Miami provides a springboard for more consistent performances from this point onwards.

“It was our best weekend of the year,” Gasly claimed. “Qualified fifth and finished eighth, I think it was a more traditional weekend but now we’ve got to understand what has happened in Baku and why we lacked so much performance.

“This weekend was a lot better we have got to figure out this package and try to get some consistency over the next few weekends.”

Alpine’s double points haul has elevated it back into fifth place in the Constructors’ Championship above McLaren, who endured a nightmare weekend Stateside.

But Alpine remain a considerable distance away from achieving the objective it set out over the winter of retaining the fourth spot it earned last year and closing down the traditional top three sides in the modern era.

Aston Martin’s shock emergence as a front-runner alongside Ferrari, Mercedes and Red Bull has propelled the Silverstone-based outfit into second in the standings, with ex-Alpine turnout Fernando Alonso scoring four podiums in five races.

Oscar Piastri has revealed that a brake-by-wire failure restricted his progress in the Miami Grand Prix, as he was forced to manage various issues throughout the race.

The race at the Miami International Autodrome ended in disappointment for the McLaren rookie – after being able to rise up the order during the opening laps on the Soft tyre, he was swallowed up by those around him after bolting on the hard compound and ended the race second from last.

Piastri revealed after the race that it was a failure with his brake-by-wire along with another failure at play that caused his lack of pace in his second stint.  

But the Aussie driver was able to nurse the MCL60 across to the end of the race, joking that pre-season testing practice of his steering wheel controls helped him reach the checkered flag.

“Well, it worked on the first lap,” he said.

“I gained a few positions off the start but about three or four laps after the pit stop I had a brake-by-wire failure with some other failures. So that was why the pace was so terrible. After that, the brake pedal was about two metres long it felt like, amongst other things.

“It was sudden, hit the brakes one lap and the brake pedal just went to the floor. I’m not sure if it was just BBW or if we had some other issues as well going on so we need to understand what went wrong.”

As Piastri and McLaren team-mate Lando Norris qualified P19 and P16 respectively, the team opted for a more aggressive strategy for the opening stint to aid them in moving up the order. After Alpha Tauri’s Nyck de Vries collided with Norris at the first corner and Piastri’s later problems it meant that the pair couldn’t make up any positions during the race.

Piastri confirmed that McLaren’s strategy of starting on the soft tyre was “a calculated risk”.

“To be honest, we weren’t going to get into the points on pace today. Tried something different, didn’t really work. So yeah, challenging afternoon but we had to try something on the strategy.

“It was good [steering wheel] switch practice that’s for sure! I’m glad we did extensive work on that in testing it paid off today.”

Lewis Hamilton says he was delighted to bounce back from 13th on the grid to finish sixth in the Miami Grand Prix after a “demoralising” weekend in Azerbaijan.

Having shown promising signs in FP1 to lead the way with a 1-2 finish, Mercedes endured an arduous second session on Friday to wound up only seventh and 15th.

However, it was still a huge shock when the seven-time World Champion failed to progress into the final stage of qualifying, ending up down in a lowly 13th place.

But Hamilton was able to fight back on Sunday to gain seven places in the race, biding his time on the hard tyre before completing a series of overtakes in the closing laps on the medium compound.

“It’s been a good day, must better than yesterday,” he professed. “Yesterday was a difficult day, in qualifying, to qualify 13th is not great. It made the race much, much harder for us.

“The first 20 laps were a little bit difficult because we were in a DRS train. But after that I was able to start chipping away. I really enjoy battling with different cars, it was great at the end to catch the Alpine and overtake Ferrari for example.”

Hamilton’s Mercedes team-mate George Russell was able to reach Q3, qualifying sixth, and that paved the way for him to take the chequered flag in a solid fourth.

With Russell having pitted for fresher tires and approaching the back of his long-running team-mate, Hamilton willingly moved over for his younger partner to enable him to continue his charge.

“George and I, he started sixth, so we were in a bit of a different race,” he continued. “Of course, I’m a team player, I want to give the team the maximum points.”

Despite the set-back of Saturday, Hamilton added that it felt “mega” to be making forward advances up the order after a race in Baku the previous weekend where he felt he was going “backwards”.

“It was mega. Just to be… the sprint race in the last race, I was going backwards. It’s really, really demoralising when you’re going backwards, it’s really tough.

“So it was really great to have pace, see the cars up ahead and seeing the progress, knowing that I’ll be battling with people. I had a couple of great overtakes as well. That’s what I live for.”

After Russell had poached a place from Carlos Sainz earlier on, Hamilton’s final overtake on the race witnessed him claim sixth from the sister Ferrari of Charles Leclerc with a tight move into Turn 11.

While his qualifying woes made his race harder, Hamilton admits he relishes days where he has to overcome adversity to achieve a good result.

“It felt great to see the Ferrari up ahead and just catching it bit by bit,” the Mercedes driver expressed. “It’s pretty impressive that they’re so quick in a single lap but I don’t know what was going on in the race.

“But to come from 13th and get back into the hustle with them was great. I think if I had qualified where I should’ve, I probably would’ve had a much smoother and easier day. But I like days like this where there’s a bit of adversity and you have to put it all together and deliver.”

Mercedes’ strong Sunday recovery meant it outscored both Aston Martin and Ferrari in the Constructors’ Championship.

Although Fernando Alonso notched a fourth podium in five races, Lance Stroll’s failure to score meant Mercedes reduced the deficit to the Silverstone side to only six points, with the German marque also possessing an 18-point advantage over Ferrari.

Formula 1’s return to Europe in two weeks with the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola is set to witness Mercedes begin a significant redevelopment of its troubled W14 car.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has confirmed that through the coming races the Brackley-based operation plan to introduce a new floor and suspension elements as well as revised bodywork.

Fernando Alonso admits there is an element of frustration building after he finished in third place for the fourth time in five races in 2023 at the Miami Grand Prix.

The two-time Formula 1 champion has enjoyed an astonishing start to his debut campaign with Aston Martin as the Silverstone side has emerged as a surprise front-running threat.

Having qualified on the front row for the second time this year in Miami, Alonso proceeded to follow that up with another trip to the podium ceremony alongside the dominant Red Bull duo.

While he has previously declared Aston Martin is a year ahead of schedule on its plan to compete for World Championships, Alonso concedes he hopes to have the opportunity at some point this season to finish higher than third.

But the Spaniard, who has now gone 10 years since his last victory in F1, recognises that Red Bull is untouchable and states Aston Martin must ensure it continues to be the second force in case the reigning champions happen to slip up.

Asked if it was irritating to stand on the third step of the rostrum again, Alonso responded: “It is! It is. Obviously, we want to step on [a] step higher on the podium for P2 and eventually one day we have an opportunity to win a race – but at the moment it didn’t happen because Red Bull is better than us.

“It’s stronger, it’s faster and the reliability has been always outstanding for them as well, finishing both cars in every race. So, yeah, if one day there is a crack there, if there is an opportunity, we need to make sure we are in that position and we’re still not making mistakes at any point in the weekend.

Red Bull’s Miami GP triumph marked its fifth win of the year and fourth consecutive 1-2 finish, with the RB19 being over 20s clear of its nearest challenger in every race that has ended under green flag racing conditions.

Alonso, therefore, anticipates it being unrealistic to expect Aston Martin to beat Red Bull on merit at any stage this year and emphasises that Aston Martin’s main fight is with Ferrari and Mercedes for second place.

“I think the year is going to be difficult,” he replied when asked about the potential to achieve his 33rd career win this year. “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. I think the season is going to be long.

“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.

“But 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,” he added.

Next up on Formula 1’s radar is a return to the iconic Imola venue for the Emilia Romagna Grand Prix and a circuit where Alonso has triumphed previously.

However, the Oviedo-born racer predicts an intense duel between the trio of teams behind Red Bull, with Ferrari and Mercedes set to introduce upgrades in Italy.

“I think in Imola it’s going to be an interesting fight again,” the double World Champion considers. “As you said, a lot of teams will bring upgrades to the car. Mercedes, probably Ferrari as well and we will try to keep finishing in front of them on Sunday.”

Despite Alonso making another trip to the podium in green, Aston Martin lost ground to its main rivals in Miami after Lance Stroll failed to score a single point.

The Canadian was eliminated from the first stage of qualifying and could only battle back to 12th place in Sunday’s race.

With Mercedes managing to get both cars home inside the top six, Aston Martin now leads its engine supplier by only six points as F1 prepares to embark on its traditional European leg of the calendar.

Ferrari, meanwhile, sit a further 18 points behind Mercedes in fourth, having struggled on race day in the Sunshine State.