As soon as they hand him half a car, Fernando Alonso clears any doubt about his level to race in Formula 1. The Asturian driver completed at Zandvoort his best race of the season, finishing ninth and adding two points that are practically a miracle given he started eighteenth on a narrow circuit where overtaking is difficult.
The Aston Martin continues to improve, more through aerodynamics than through Honda’s engine. Fernando Alonso acknowledged that the new AMR26 has radically changed in the last two races, and that allows him to fight much higher up. But Alonso also added a line: “I’m a very good driver”.
Alonso becomes the first driver over 45 to score points in Formula 1 since 1974
Fernando Alonso achieved this weekend his best result of the entire season. A ninth place that tastes like glory for how he achieved it: starting eighteenth and clawing back nine positions thanks to a one-stop strategy and a phenomenal race pace. Aston Martin’s improvements continue to bear fruit.
According to Alonso, “We’ve improved three seconds in two races. Everything is going according to plan”. And at Zandvoort, besides a Honda engine that worked only halfway, there were also more aerodynamic updates from Adrian Newey. Aston Martin has improved quite a bit in qualifying and a lot in race pace.
The problem is that for now Aston Martin has only been able to use 15 of the 30 extra horsepower that the new Honda engine theoretically provides, which continues to be a drag on the straightaways. Alonso therefore warned that “there are still a couple of tenths to optimize in this package. We tend to go better in race with this chassis”.
The thing is that Alonso is once again happy, and that showed when, just after crossing the finish line, he radioed that “I love driving this car”, a line that takes us back to his first race with Aston Martin, the Bahrain podium. That said, not everything is about the car, and Alonso also stands his ground against critics: “I am a very good driver”
Fernando Alonso has become the first driver over 45 to score points in a Formula 1 race since 1974. The last to do so was Graham Hill at the Swedish Grand Prix, when he finished sixth, which eventually became his last points in Formula 1. It seems Fernando Alonso still has a lot more to add.
The best part is that, according to Alonso, “we use strategies that are not optimal to have free track, because in traffic we can’t overtake and we can’t exploit our potential“. When there is a motor up to the task, Aston Martin promises.
Images | Aston Martin
