Alonso saw his hopes dashed: 'Okay, it was gone'

Last week, team boss Mike Krack told co-owner Lawrence Stroll he was not happy. In Brazil, Aston Martin and especially Alonso were as strong as they were at the start of the season. Barely 53 thousandths of a second was the difference from Sergio Perez. Of all the podiums this season, surely this one should give Alonso the best feeling.

Alonso drove strategic Grand Prix

"I'm not sure, the closest [gap] that’s for sure," the Spaniard laughed afterwards. "Yes, it was a very intense race. And there was no time to relax. Very strategic race as well – saving the tyres, saving the battery always, in case you need it on a DRS opportunity for Checo. I thought that I had things under control in the last stint until maybe five laps to the end, when I started pushing a little bit more.

"I had more life in the tyres, and I thought everything was fine. Checo was playing the same game. He had good tyres at the end of the race and he overtook me two laps to the end. And I thought ‘OK, this is gone’ and then I had one more chance and it was enough."

Aston Martin needed that

For Aston Martin, Alonso's third-place finish comes at just the right time, after such a difficult period. "It's very nice," Alonso said accordingly. "I think we've been struggling for a few months. But the last two races were probably quite painful. We had to experiment a little bit on a few things on the car to really understand the direction that we were going and we have to go for next year's car as well. So those races were painful, especially Mexico. I think it was nice to see everyone in the team very focused."

"The determination in the team was so nice to see everyone united in the same direction. I was a little bit concerned, no doubt, for the last few races and maybe the final part of the championship, and now I cannot wait to go to Vegas. So it's a very different energy when you have a performing car."