How Alonso used a unique strategy to earn P9 for Aston Martin in Zandvoort

The Dutch Grand Prix saw some fantastic action at the front, but there were also impressive performances further back, including a spectacular drive from Fernando Alonso to P9 and two precious points for Aston Martin.

The Spaniard was beaten only by the Audi of Nico Hulkenberg in the midfield battle. However, while progress has been made of late it would be premature to suggest that Aston Martin's AMR26 was the sixth fastest car on the Zandvoort grid.

It was a result hewn from perfect execution by team and driver on a day when others with quicker cars made mistakes, or didn’t get it quite right. However, that shouldn’t detract from a great performance – and one that suggests signs of genuine promise after the team’s difficult start to 2026.

In Budapest, the long-awaited aero update package had an immediate impact with the team jumping ahead of Cadillac, Haas and Williams. Zandvoort saw another step on the aero side with new parts, but of greater significance was the debut of Honda’s latest power unit. As such the weekend was a big test, with the Sprint schedule making it that much harder to optimise everything.

That was reflected in a low-key start to the weekend. Sprint Qualifying didn’t go smoothly, with Lance Stroll in P17 and Alonso in P22 after not getting a proper lap in.

With little to lose the former World Champion made set-up changes for the Sprint and thus started from the pit lane. Using it as a test session, he finished P18, behind his team mate. In Qualifying the pair earned P18 and P19, with Alonso ahead. It might not have matched the Budapest Q2 performance, but it was all very close – and Alonso was unperturbed by the actual positions.

"We used to be 4.5 seconds average on the gap to the leader,” he said after the session. “So we took three seconds in two races. This is amazing. Everything is working as expected, but this is a tough sport.”

The AMR26 has generally been kind on its tyres, with the drivers often running long opening stints. That characteristic appears to have been retained with the updated and quicker car, and it was to prove crucial to Alonso’s race.

As in Hungary, softs were once again the choice on the grid in Zandvoort, and after taking a fresh set for the restart Alonso stayed out as others stopped, gradually moving up the order while having to deal with radio issues that compromised his contact with the pit wall.

When he finally came in on Lap 34 he had made it to P8, behind only the drivers from the top four teams.

The stop initially dropped him back to P13, but crucially he had opened the window to a de facto one-stopper – something that no one else was able to achieve on Sunday. A marathon 37-lap stint to the flag on hards saw him rise to P9 as those ahead pitted.

“That was not the plan,” he admitted. “I think the plan was two stops and to go more conventional. But yeah, we need to sometimes deviate a little bit from what is the normal thing.

“When we are in traffic, we cannot use our potential. We are faster in the corners than the people in front of us, we are slower on the straights, and we are stuck behind. So as soon as we have free track in front of us, we try to use it, even if it's not the optimal performance, and the optimal strategy. And it’s what we did today.”

He added: “I think we scored one point in Monaco with nine DNFs, and today we scored two points, with I think Max DNF. So I think it was well-deserved. Probably in Budapest we could have done a little bit better. And yeah, it will depend circuit-by-circuit, depending how many straights we have.

“So I don't expect in Monza to be competitive, but maybe in some other circuits we have another chance to be in the points.”

It’s clear that the AMR26 is getting better. However Alonso’s comments on straight-line performance told their own story, and Honda obviously need more time to get the best out of the updated power unit.

“I think another step forward, especially on the chassis side,” Alonso said. “We brought four or five components here. Also, the Budapest package was understood in the break, and with all the data available after the race, we fine-tuned a little bit the setup around that new spec, plus the new parts. I think now we are optimising the chassis side, and we are able to extract the maximum.

“On the engine, it's more difficult. I don't think we can be black and white if we have more power or not. From the driver side of things, you change circuit, one month after the other race – so, difficult.

“On drivability, it has been a difficult weekend. We're struggling with the downshift again, and we're struggling with the engine braking corner-to-corner. So it was a challenging weekend in that regard.”

The downside for Aston Martin was another retirement from Stroll after damage led to handling issues that obliged the Canadian to stop.

Nevertheless, it was an encouraging weekend overall for the Silverstone team, as Chief Trackside Officer Mike Krack acknowledged.

“We get to know this package more and more,” he noted after the race. “I think we said with a large package that we introduced in Budapest, we'll take some sessions to learn how to deal with it, and to learn how to set it up.

“And the same goes actually also for the introduction of the power unit – now we need to learn how to how to use it. We need to learn how to optimise it, and I think that is it's going to take us a couple of events. But it was a good step forward.”

Significantly, both drivers were pleased with a much-improved chassis balance over the weekend.

“It goes along with what I just said in terms of trying to understand the package,” said Krack. “If you have changes at this large scale, with the intensity of the sessions, it's always difficult to get the maximum out of it all the time.

“And the more sessions we get, the more we will get it under control. But there are sessions where you will have a bit more difficulties, some others where it will be easier, and I think we had quite a good configuration this weekend.”