Fernando Alonso finished ninth in Zandvoort, picking up two valuable points for Aston Martin in chaotic Dutch GP.
Aston Martin arrived to Zandvoort with a fresh Honda power unit following their major upgrade package in Hungary before the summer break, improvements that Fernando Alonso appears to have maximised by bringing back two championship points for the team with a top-10 finish. He finished one lap down from race winner Lando Norris, just ahead of Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who picked up the final point.
Alonso, who qualified in P18 on Saturday, told Managing Technical Partner Adrian Newey over team radio that the car was ‘lovely’ to drive.
Newey jumped on the radio to thank Alonso for his performance, saying: “Well done Fernando, that was a great drive. Very disciplined and a great boost for everybody back at Silverstone. Thank you.”
To which the Spaniard positively replied with a ‘more to come’ promise. “Yeah, absolutely. Thanks to you guys. Everyone in Silverstone, amazing.
“Lovely car to drive and more to come, I know.”
Zandvoort is Alonso’s second point-scoring race in 2026. He picked up Aston Martin’s first point of the season at the Monaco Grand Prix following a 10-second penalty to Cadillac’s Sergio Perez. Cadillac remain the only team yet to score so far.
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However, it was a different race story on the other side of the Aston Martin garage. Unfortunately for the team, Stroll retired from the race with a handling issue suspected to be caused by damage to the car.
READ MORE – Lando Norris romps to 2026 F1 Dutch GP win
Originally published by motorsportweek.com —
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