Miller and his first podium in MotoGP this season

Having led for 15 of the 20 race laps, Miller admitted it was a slightly bittersweet feeling to be passed by Bastianini and then Alex Rins in the closing stages.

“I’m really happy with this result, although I’m a bit disappointed having tasted victory for so long,” said Miller, who proudly carried a Nicky Hayden flag on the slowdown lap. “The team and I needed this third place, so I’m happy.

“I tried my best to break away, but made a couple of slight mistakes. Enea was back on me and blitzed me down the back straight. I thought, ‘all right, be calm. Sit behind and see what I can do towards the end of the race’.

“The next lap we came to Turn 11, he went deep and I followed him in and nearly ended up in the car park! Then I heard that Suzuki right next to me and it was like déjà vu from last year with Joan Mir. It was Alex this time. A nice, clean battle there through to the end.

“Honestly, I don’t know if I could have done any better today. My goal was just to try and get out front, keep my head down and put the laps together. I’m really happy to show that we’ve got the pace, at least for 16 laps. We’ll hopefully find the last four laps over the next week and bring that to Portugal.”

With Bastianini now winning two of the opening four races to lead the world championship on last year’s GP21, questions are inevitably being asked about whether the GP22 is lagging behind its predecessor in areas such as tyre management.

Although Miller faded slightly towards the end, it was nothing compared to the drop suffered by team-mate Bagnaia (fifth) and especially Pramac riders Martin and Zarco, who finished eighth and ninth.

“I knew the tyre consumption was a bit high for us. I tried to be conservative but I saw the others had more speed,” Bagnaia said. “The one who did a good job with the GP22 today was Jack, who was constantly fast from the start. Enea was unbeatable today. His pace was so strong.”