Fernando Alonso admitted that second was the most he and Aston Martin could achieve during the Monaco Grand Prix after an impressive display from Red Bull driver Max Verstappen in both dry and wet conditions.
Alonso started alongside Verstappen on the front row of the grid, but fell behind the reigning world champion at the first corner and gradually pulled away as the race progressed and dark clouds gathered.
READ MORE: Verstappen beats Alonso to Monaco GP win despite rain causing late drama
As the raindrops began to fall, Alonso pitted and took more slick tyres, only for the intensity to pick up a bit over the next few laps and force him to use the intermediates again, which Verstappen moved into directly from his mids. initials.
Alonso managed to hold on to second place despite the extra pit stop, but Verstappen’s pace advantage in the dry carried over to the wet as he built up almost 30sec into the race to the checkered flag.
“It was difficult,” said Alonso, who nonetheless took his fifth podium finish in six races with Aston Martin. “We opted to start on the hard tyres, so we forego the possibility of going into Turn 1, due to the short course.
Monaco Grand Prix 2023: Polesitter Verstappen maintains his lead ahead of Alonso at the start of the race
“We planned to play a long game with the strategy, but Max drove very well on the medium tyres, extending that first stint, so we didn’t have a chance. Then, at the end, the rain made things a bit complicated, it was not easy to drive.
Alonso also took a moment to explain how difficult the conditions were when the rain arrived in the closing stages, saying he expected more incidents to occur given how slippery the track surface had become.
“There was no full power on the lap, the braking was extremely brittle at Turn 5, at Turn 10, so it wasn’t easy,” he commented. “I was surprised there were no Safety Cars, no incidents, so I think everyone did an amazing job today to keep the cars on track.
Alonso is third in the pilot classification after his last podium finish, but now he finds himself just 12 points behind Verstappen’s team-mate Sergio Perez, who crossed the line in 16th after a qualifying crash left him at the back of the grid.
Meanwhile, Aston Martin has narrowly held on to second place in the builders battlewith a point advantage over Mercedes, which added double points to take advantage of the withdrawal of Lance Stroll in the other green machine.