Alonso hails "well-executed" Bahrain Grand Prix as Aston Martin finally score
Aston Martin had scored three points all season before Sunday at Sepang. Fernando Alonso more than doubled that tally in a single afternoon, taking eighth place in the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia for the team's best result of 2026 and four points that moved Aston Martin onto seven.
It was far from a straightforward race. Heavy rain delayed the start by 40 minutes, and the formation laps descended into farce when several cars, including the Ferrari of Lewis Hamilton and the Alpine of Esteban Ocon, stopped on the grid. The race eventually got under way at 4.40pm local time, an hour and 40 minutes behind schedule. Max Verstappen converted pole position into his first win of the season, ahead of Kimi Antonelli and Hamilton.
Alonso had qualified twelfth, and he was in a good mood afterwards. "Very pleased," he said. "Obviously, there are not many weekends where we can score points. On those occasions, we cannot make any mistakes. I think today was a well-executed race and I'm happy for the team."
He was candid about where some of the luck had come from. "It was more help for the cars that stopped on the formation lap," Alonso said. "That was the biggest help."
The stoppage also gave him a chance to land a dig at his own season. "First time I see it," he said of the disruption. "I mean, I had half of the races this year with DNF and we never stopped the race. I hope they can do it next time we stop."
On the race itself, Alonso said the early running was a leap into the unknown on slick tyres. "We didn't know the conditions," he explained, but the car was quick enough to make it count. "We were faster than the Ferraris back at that point, etc. So, we stayed out."
The safety car then did the rest. "The safety car was the biggest help, regrouping everything," Alonso said. "And a new race from that moment onwards."
The race was reshuffled again late on. Alex Albon's gearbox failure brought out a virtual safety car and then a full one, and George Russell stopped with a power-unit problem as the field prepared to resume. With four laps left the pack was bunched up for a final sprint, and Alonso held off Lando Norris to the flag.
That result kept him ahead of a much quicker car at the finish and left Aston Martin five points behind Williams in the constructors' standings. Alonso had ruled out points on Saturday, citing the car's lack of power. By Sunday evening he was ready to put it down to a better weekend. "Overall, it was a more competitive weekend and we capitalized on that performance," he said.
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