Fernando Alonso: High praise after best performance of the season at Zandvoort

At last, points straight after the race for Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin! The two-time F1 world champion finished ninth at Zandvoort, picking up two points for his own championship tally and for his team’s. This means that Alonso and Aston Martin now both have three points (his team-mate Stroll has yet to score any points).

Although Alonso had already scored his first point in Monaco – he had only moved up to 10th place that evening after the race because Sergio Perez (Cadillac) had subsequently received a penalty. Ninth place in the Netherlands was therefore not only Alonso’s best result of the season, but also the first points the team were able to celebrate together at the track.

Alonso: All the decisions were right

The Spaniard was noticeably relaxed and happy after the Grand Prix at Zandvoort, delighted with his best result of the season. Alonso said: “I’m very happy, also for the team. With every decision that was made, they hit the nail on the head. The strategy was right, the starting tyre was right. With the virtual safety cars towards the end, we considered whether we should come in for a pit stop or not. We decided against it. Every decision they made was the right one. A big thank you.”

At last, everything went smoothly – rather than, as had felt the case so far in 2026, everything going wrong. Aston Martin had got off to a difficult start to the new season. However, with a chassis upgrade in Budapest before the summer break and now a fresh engine upgrade in Zandvoort, the team seems to have taken a step forward.

Alonso: “We’re in the points; the car performed well. Hopefully we can achieve even more. We can take this motivation and momentum into the next races and continue to work on our overall package.”

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Aston Martin still has work to do in this area

However, it’s not all plain sailing yet, as Alonso notes: “In terms of driveability, we’re not quite where we want to be yet – downshifting and engine braking still feel a bit unpredictable from corner to corner. So we still need to fine-tune these aspects. As for the performance deficits, we’re still losing a lot on the straights. Since we’re now more or less competitive in the corners, we need to improve that, but we’re trying to tackle all of this together. We also need to give Honda time to work out where the problem lies and how it can be resolved. So I’m satisfied, I’m relaxed and I have confidence in both Silverstone and Sakura.’ That is, the two factory sites of Aston Martin and engine supplier Honda.