Fernando Alonso said he is happy with the performance of the Aston Martin team following the Formula 1 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard finished 5th on Saturday’s race behind Oscar Piastri and ahead of George Russell, representing a one-spot loss after qualifying in P4 on Friday.
So far, Alonso has amassed 12 points after a P9 finish at F1’s opening GP in Bahrain, and sits seventh in the Drivers’ championship, well in the mix with McLaren and Mercedes.
Speaking with the media after event, the 2-time World Champion said he is “happy with the race result, in front of both Mercedes, one McLaren and one Ferrari – it is the maximum we can wish for at the moment.”
“We saw in the race that we are still missing two or three tenths compared to Mercedes and McLaren, maybe a little bit more compared to Red Bull and Ferrari in qualifying, but it is pretty close.
“We just need to keep working on the race pace.”
Alonso said things improved as the team introduced upgrades on Thursday prior to qualifying, and reassured they made a “step forward in terms of performance.”
“When George [Russell] overtook Nico [Hulkenberg], they were coming so fast and I thought, ‘okay, this is going to be a difficult race’, but we could hod George behind us,” he explained.
“We are still missing two or three tenths and we will keep chasing that performance. It is challenging, but it is a nice challenge and an interesting season ahead.”