Fernando Alonso scores his first point with McLaren-Honda
It took until the British Grand Prix for Fernando Alonso to score his first points with McLaren-Honda. The Spaniard took advantage of numerous retirements – and newfound reliability – to slip into 10th place.
The numerous retirements that marked the British Grand Prix benefited Fernando Alonso. The McLaren-Honda driver managed to get ahead of Marcus Ericsson’s Sauber to score a point – his first this season.
The 10th place is an encouraging performance for the two-time Iberian world champion: « It is not the best of results, but the tenth position helps to motivate everyone. The entire team is incredibly focused – they have worked day and night to improve the car – and we know that this is a long-term project, and there are no magic solutions. However, obtaining a decent result, and bringing a few points home, is always important. (…) We know that we are making progress, and today was a good day for morale ».
Fernando Alonso is all the more deserving as he had to return to the pits after the first lap to change his damaged wing in the initial pile-up. Caught in the same accident, Jenson Button was forced to retire. He recounts the incident: « Fernando tried to move to the right to avoid [the Lotus cars], and in doing so I think he lost the rear and punctured my rear tire. The impact lifted the car and the systems shut down. »
