McLaren Honda recorded its most competitive outing of the season so far to score nine world championship points in Sunday afternoon's Hungarian Grand Prix, aftger a superb drive from former world champion, Fernando Alonso.
The Spanish racer drove a sensational race to finish sixth in a performance that included a committed overtaking move around the outside of Carlos Sainz at Turn Two, and a crackling second stint on the Prime tyre, which concluded with him setting the overall fastest lap of the race, on lap 69.
“We were probably looking at seventh or eighth position today, but with Ricciardo out of the race, sixth place became possible, and we grabbed it. Still, we worked for that result all weekend – no mistakes, good practice sessions, strong qualifying, and then a perfectly executed race,” he said. “There are three or four weekends in a season where we can be competitive, so we need to maximise those and fully capitalise on our potential – and that's exactly what we did this weekend. Races like Spa and Monza are going to be more difficult for us, so let's just enjoy this result and think about the difficult ones when they come.”
“The battle with Carlos was a close-run thing. We were together at the start, at the restart after the Safety Car; we came into the pits together, we exited together and I knew I had two laps where I could really push and stress the new tyres a little bit. I tried to do that with some kamikaze moves at times because, after those initial two laps, I knew it was going to be impossible. It worked out fine.”
“Also, the fastest lap at the end of the race was a surprise – a gift – but one we'll take! It was definitely a good race, so let's go into the summer break with smiles on our faces.”
