Alonso finally gets into the points

Fernando Alonso scored his first points of the season by finishing in sixth place at the Russian Grand Prix in Sochi. The pilot McLaren took advantage of the first lap confusion to move up from 14th to seventh, while his teammate Jenson Button finished in tenth.

“We were lucky in turns 2 and 3 on the first lap. We were able to gain several places by taking advantage of the accidents”, commented the double world champion. “But, as we saw last year, we can very well make good starts and fail to maintain those good positions. It's different this year, we have the pace to finish in sixth place and set the fifth fastest lap in the race, which proves that our car is improving in performance. »

Fernando Alonso could even have threatened the Williams de Valtteri Bottas and Felipe Massa if he had not had to slow down to save fuel.

" There car performed very well throughout the race. We had to conserve fuel at a certain point, but I decided to attack on a lap, to wake up a little, and the time reflected the potential we have. Finishing consistently in the points should be our goal now.”, added the Asturian.

His teammate Jenson Button is also happy with the result after starting from 12th position.

“It’s a fantastic result to have both cars in the points at a circuit that doesn’t really suit us.”, declared the 2009 world champion. “The next race in Barcelona (the Spanish GP will be held on May 15) will be quite difficult for us, but we will continue to aim for points before Monaco. »

Discover the analysis of the Russian Grand Prix carried out by our special correspondents in issue 2061 of AUTOhebdo, available from Monday evening in digital version on all platforms, and from Wednesday on newsstands.