Fernando Alonso and Aston Martin Capitalize on Sepang Chaos to Score Points

Fernando Alonso has scored points again with Aston Martin, the Asturian driver who started from twelfth position at the Bahrain Grand Prix in Malaysia, managed to cross the finish line in eighth position after a chaotic race marked by rain, strategy changes and multiple incidents. A result that although it was favored by the circumstances, represents a breath of fresh air for a team that had not scored since August.

The race in Sepang was anything but predictable, the rain made its presence felt before the start and the tire choice became a lottery. Aston Martin like McLaren, Ferrari, Alpine, Audi, Cadillac and Haas opted for the slicks, a decision that soon proved wrong: "The rain was very appreciated in terms of opportunities for us, we even started with slicks because we thought the rain was no longer there, it took quite a while to restart the race but I'm sure there is an explanation" Alonso declared with irony.

The Asturian was one of the few who decided to stay on track with the slicks while others, like his teammate Lance Stroll, switched to intermediates. The bet was risky but Alonso trusted that a Safety Car would allow him to change tires without losing too much time, meanwhile the Spaniard dedicated himself to surviving on the slippery asphalt, even overtaking his former teammate, Lewis Hamilton: "I passed Lewis while we were sliding and looking for grip" he recalled.

The Safety Car that Alonso was waiting for finally arrived and after the restart, the Asturian began to come back positions. He overtook Arvid Lindblad just before the Virtual Safety Car that would become the second full Safety Car period, the retirements of George Russell and the mishap of Lando Norris promoted him to eighth position which he maintained until the checkered flag, ahead of the world champion.

An Aston Martin holding off a double race winner in 2026 was unthinkable just a few weeks ago: "I think it's the track, we have been more competitive this weekend in general, both cars in Q2 and today fighting in midfield territory. Overall it was a better weekend, let's see if we can maintain this pace, especially in Singapore, where we have some hopes for next weekend" Alonso stated.

The Spaniard also acknowledged that the team made mistakes in the tire choice, but highlighted the recovery capacity: "We got ourselves into some difficulties there but in the end it was fine, after the Safety Car we had a new race", he added.

Mike Krack, Aston Martin track boss, was self-critical with the team's strategy: "I think we made some good decisions but also some that were less good and this we must clearly review, with Lance we retired from the slicks with Fernando we continued. Clearly it is something we have to analyze" he noted, furthermore Krack also wanted to keep his feet on the ground: "Let's not forget that three weeks ago we were in Madrid, a week ago in Baku and we were nowhere, we need to keep our feet on the ground here, really analyze why we were more competitive here and see how we can benefit more from that" he concluded.

Aston Martin faces the Singapore event with the hope of maintaining its good moment and continuing to score points in the fight for the championship.