After nine Grands Prix, Fernando Alonso has finally managed to score his first points of the season
At his home Grand Prix in Barcelona, the Aston Martin driver scored his first points of the season by finishing in ninth place. It was a race filled with battles for Fernando, including an early off-track excursion and constant fights in the midfield. Then, thanks to the Safety Car in the closing stages, two important overtakes and a penalty handed to Verstappen allowed him to break into the top 10 and take home his first two points.
These were his words after the race: “I felt more competitive in qualifying than in the race. We had a lot of front tire degradation. The front-left tire was done after just 7 laps of the stint. And then we lacked top speed. We were losing a lot on the straights. I didn’t even manage a single overtake with DRS.
All my overtakes were in Turn 3 on the outside, which is definitely not a usual overtaking spot. But we have to come up with these kinds of moves. Even in Imola I went wide in Turn 7 and made three overtakes in the final laps. So we need to solve this situation and start overtaking on the straights with DRS like everyone else.”
About the DRS issue, he added: “It’s only our problem, because everyone else manages it. So we need to improve a bit our straight-line speed, and also our degradation management. As I said, we’re quite competitive on Saturdays, but on Sundays we seem to take a step back. Still, I’m happy with today. First points. The safety car at the end came at the perfect moment. Perfect timing, everything. But if we could go back to Thursday and do the weekend over, we’d need to change something on the car to be a bit more Sunday-focused rather than Saturday-focused.”
Photo: X Aston Martin F1
