Mission accomplished
And finally, at his home Grand Prix, the goal was achieved: after eight races without scoring a single point, due to retirements and finishes outside the top 10, Fernando Alonso managed to place in the top half of the final standings at the Spanish Grand Prix, with a 9th place that brings some relief to him and Aston Martin.
It marks the end of a period of crisis mixed with bad luck, with the first positive signs already evident during qualifying. A ninth place earned partly thanks to Verstappen’s penalty, which dropped him to tenth after contact with Russell, but above all due to the great talent of the two-time world champion, the former McLaren and Ferrari driver, who successfully recovered into the points despite an off-track excursion.
Creativity in overtaking
That moment pushed the 43-year-old to invent some highly challenging overtakes at various points on the Catalan track, such as those around the outside of Turn 3: “It’s always special to race at home, and it means a lot to score my first points of the season here in Barcelona,” he said. “The support from the fans has been incredible. The car’s pace wasn’t exactly what we wanted, especially after feeling strong in qualifying. I struggled to overtake on the straights, so I had to get very creative at Turn 3. In the end, I’m happy to have scored points, and now we’ll try to carry this momentum into Canada. We missed Lance and I wish him a speedy recovery.”
Lance Stroll absent, but why?
On that note, it remains to be clarified exactly why Lance Stroll was absent from the Spanish Grand Prix. Officially, it was due to a hand and wrist injury that forced him to sit out the race. However, the latest rumours, reported by the BBC, do not rule out an outburst from the Canadian driver after his Q2 elimination, allegedly involving insults directed at team members and damage to equipment in the garage.
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