After starting from the back of the grid for the Malaysia Grand Prix, due to grid penalties from changing components on his power unit, Fernando Alonso put in a sensational performance to finish in seventh place.
By the end of lap one, Alonso had managed to make up eight places and was 14th, a free stop helped him under the Virtual Safety Car spurred the Spaniard on and he continued to charge through the field making up more places.
Alonso said: “It was definitely a very exciting race for us today, with some great battles.
“Having started from the very back, we recovered some good places at the start and were lucky not to get caught up in the first-corner accident. I was actually surprised by my position because I’d already got into the points after just a bunch of laps.”
While barely being out of the top ten for most of the race, a late Virtual Safety Car gave Alonso another opportunity to make up further places including passing teammate Jenson Button.
Alonso added: “At that point, we had some debate over the radio about the strategy – about whether to be aggressive or more conservative. Eventually, we decided to attack and use all the new sets of soft tyres we had left over from qualifying.
“The final Virtual Safety Car certainly played in our favour, because it allowed us to use the last new set.
“After this weekend’s penalties, we needed some luck – and we got that today!”
With the six points earned, Alonso has broken into the top ten of the driver’s standings, certainly proving the remarkable progress McLaren-Honda have made in recent months.
