Fernando Alonso described his fifth place as “a little present” for McLaren in an “unbelievable” Hungarian Grand Prix.
McLaren looked more competitive at the Hungaroring throughout the weekend but was hit by reliability issues in qualifying and Alonso started in 15th place on the grid. Having kept out of trouble in a race full of collisions and incidents, Alonso was promoted to fifth in the closing laps when Daniel Ricciardo and Nico Rosberg collided, and he says McLaren took full advantage of the dramatic race.
“Unbelievable,” Alonso said. “I think the race was very good for us. Obviously fifth is a little present for us because at the moment we are not super competitive. So the race was a little bit chaotic in some parts of it and we took advantage of what came to us and we maximised the result.
“Monaco, Hungary, Singapore are circuits that are a little bit better for our performance and our car. In these cases we need to take that opportunity.”
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When asked if the result acts as a motivator for the rest of the season, Alonso replied: “Definitely.
“Not much for us but for the whole team. People are working back at the factory 24 hours a day just to keep updating the car and to get some results, to touch some points, this is a good way to go in to the break. In the second half of the season we need to maximise the performance, to reach our level because we need to get some good preparation for next year.”