Max Verstappen has suggested that he would be happy to see Fernando Alonso win again in Formula 1 as he believes the Spaniard should have more victories to his name.
Alonso has not stood on the top step of a podium in F1 in almost 10 years, dating back to his 32nd career victory at the 2013 Spanish Grand Prix.
Verstappen, who surpassed Alonso’s win tally last year, says the current Aston Martin driver has merited more wins than he has achieved in his career.
“I think Fernando should have won many more races than he has done, I think he deserves a lot more,” he said.
“So yeah, I would be quite happy to see him win number 33, but I also in a way would like to see him win more so we’ll see in the coming races.”
Aston Martin’s surprise emergence as a front-running force in 2023 has enabled Alonso to score three successive podiums to open the latest campaign.
After years spent wrestling uncompetitive and unreliable machinery since his last victory, the prospect of the two-time champion finally landing a competitive seat has heightened the passion for motorsport again in his native Spain.
Men’s World Number Two tennis player Carlos Alcaraz was among those championing the prospect of Alonso ending his elongated win drought, having signed a camera recently with the words ’33 soon’ in reference to Alonso achieving a 33rd F1 win.
Alonso admits he has been enthused to see the excitement building towards F1 again in his home country.
“Yeah, I mean, it’s crazy to see how Spain is now so enthusiastic, again, for Formula 1 and for everything that is happening,” he said. “So, you know, this is very, very nice to see.
“And hopefully I think they did enjoy these first two podiums, the whole country, and I think in Barcelona it’s going to be a big thing this year again.
“And yeah, this 33, I don’t know, all these things that are happening now on social media. It was El Plan three years ago, and then The Mission, and now 33.
“So, there are a lot of 33s, and yeah, all the football clubs, or footballers, and now tennis, or whatever, and they are all doing something with 33. So, hopefully we can reach that number in terms of wins, and then we go for 34.”
Having overtaken a Ferrari and a Mercedes on his way to third place in Bahrain, Aston Martin again appeared to possess the second-quickest car in race trim behind a dominant Red Bull in both Saudi Arabia and Australia.
Asked if he is certain now whether the AMR23 will be competitive everywhere Alonso responded: “Not yet. I think we have to wait and see.
“Also, I think very soon, from Baku or Imola, we will see the teams changing a few parts in the cars. And maybe that changes, also, how competitive you feel. So let’s wait and see.
“At the moment we were extremely happy with the performance of the car, obviously. It was better than expected, especially in Jeddah. I think it was a nice surprise.
So yeah, we arrived here with a good level of confidence. But, as I said, after a few events from now on, I think the cars will change a lot, in a few areas, and a few developments. So, let’s see if we can keep this pace.”
