Alonso praises Aston Martin: 'An unreal achievement'

Praising words from Alonso to Stroll

Alonso had mostly praising words for his team after the race, but also for his teammate Lance Stroll. "First of all, I want to congratulate my teammate Lance. He had surgery 12 days ago and now he is fighting with everybody," said the Aston Martin driver.

He continued: "To finish on the podium in the first race of the year is amazing. What Aston Martin did over the winter to have the second-best car is unreal."

At the start, Alonso lost two places to Mercedes drivers George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, so the 41-year-old Spaniard took a little longer to find his way back to the front. This did see some spectacular battles with both Russell and Hamilton, but Alonso did not shy away from a duel on track.

"I would have loved to have started in front of them, but it felt more exciting this way. More adrenaline," says Alonso, who is reluctant to say whether Aston Martin will be able to continue its current strong form into the rest of the F1 season.