Alonso hails McLaren's pit wall after successful Hungary strategy

Alonso hails McLaren's pit wall after successful Hungary strategy

It was looking good for McLaren until Lap 49 in the 2018 Formula 1 Hungarian Grand Prix as both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne were in the points, thanks to their extended strategy and help by Force India's Esteban Ocon.

But the Belgian's luck was in the bin again as a suspected gearbox issue forced him to retire as his point-less streak continued for the eighth consecutive race. Alonso was able to finish the race in eighth as he celebrated his 37th birthday.

As alluded to, Ocon's extended first stint meant both the McLaren jumped Renault’s Carlos Sainz and Haas’ Romain Grosjean. "It was definitely a good Sunday," started Alonso. "It was down to pit wall, they extended the first stint as much as we could.

"Thanks to that we could recover three or four positions. For Stoffel and myself, we really deserved eighth and ninth but unfortunate problem for him. [I am] happy with points on Sundays when it normally counts and today with a perfect strategy."

Teammate Vandoorne said: "It was a really good drive. We had a great start and a great tyre management in the opening stint and also a very good pace when it mattered around the pit stops.

"We got ourselves in the points in ninth and it was just about bringing the car home but unfortunately we had the technical issue. It is a shame to retire from the race because as a team we did everything right and it hurts definitely not to finish with points."

The points helped Alonso to keep himself in the fight for best of the rest in the drivers’ standings on 44 points whereas McLaren stayed sixth with 52 in the constructors' championship as they battle Renault, Haas and Force India for fourth.

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