Perez sees Alonso as contender: 'Anything can happen in F1'

Alonso's strong performance was the talk of the day after the race. The Spaniard passed several cars that regularly reached the podium last year to secure his first podium finish for Aston Martin. Verstappen and Perez were asked if they see this as heralding a third championship title for Alonso, but the Red Bull drivers did not dare go that far yet.

"I hope so for Fernando as well because he has had a few years where there was not really a possibility to fight at the front," Verstappen said. "I'm happy to see him sitting here already in race one. Aston Martin they really have the spirit and drive, they want to win and they've hired a lot of good people. So I guess it can only get better for them. And I think for this year, difficult to say if they're going to challenge for the championship, but race wins are definitely on the table. I've been in the same position where some races I'm finishing 20 to 40 seconds behind the winners and you still win two or three races a year because sometimes they are some tracks which really suit your car and everything just comes together and you can win a race with maybe sometimes a bit of help or luck. But for sure they have a really strong package."

'Anything can still happen'

Perez added to Verstappen's words. "I'm first of all very happy to see Aston and Fernando up here. I think it's been a tremendous effort and it’s great to see Fernando in his first race for the team on the podium. I think they certainly have a very good car. They will be a contender for sure in a few tracks. You know that the seasons in Formula 1 are extremely long, so anything can happen."