“Precious points” for Alpine in Zandvoort

Ninth on the starting grid, Fernando Alonso was one of the great entertainers of the Dutch Grand Prix won by Max Verstappen (Red Bull). After getting rid of Antonio Giovinazzi (Alfa Romeo) and his teammate Esteban Ocon in one of these starts of which he has the secret, the Spaniard stole sixth place from his compatriot Carlos Sainz at the start of the last lap. “It's a good weekend since we scored valuable points by finishing sixth and I found that we were competitive from Friday », declared the double World champion with Renault after the race. A race which could nevertheless have ended in a nervous first lap.“We had a great start, but the first two corners were tight and I had to pull wide to avoid any contact. We then settled into a solid rhythm. It was fantastic to overtake Carlos [Sainz] at the end as I didn't think we could catch the Ferrari before the race. » Alonso is now looking ahead to the Italian Grand Prix in a week: « It will be interesting to see if we can continue this dynamic at Monza. Spa in the dry was the first time we ran with a very low downforce setup, so let's wait and see if we can have a good weekend there again. » 

For his part, Esteban Ocon lost one place compared to his starting place since he finished in ninth position. “It was a lively race behind the wheel and I'm happy to score some points, reacted the Frenchman. The start was pretty intense, but I like that. We probably had the pace to finish one or two places higher, but success eluded us in certain crucial situations such as dealing with latecomers. However, the team showed good pace all week and we can be satisfied with that. These are important points for the Constructors' Championship and we will be looking to do it again at Monza. We were competitive there last year, so the objective will be to continue our good streak. »