From the gravel to the points: Aston Martin’s sole driver in the Spanish Grand Prix, Fernando Alonso, managed to transform an early misstep in his home race into his first points-paying finish of F1 2025.

Despite that, Alonso walked away with mixed feelings, pointing out that the Aston has been struggling to overtake the competition, even with DRS active.

Fernando Alonso ‘invents’ overtaking opportunities in Spain

Additional reporting by Thomas Maher

The drought is over: Veteran racer Fernando Alonso has finally ended his run of points-free races by taking home a ninth-place finish at his home Grand Prix.

While it’s strange to think that the former two-time champion should be celebrating only a ninth-place finish, Alonso certainly earned it.

In the early stages of the race, the Spaniard lost control and slid into the gravel. He was able to save it and rejoin the track, battling his way into the points powered by the cheers of his hometown crowd.

He crossed the line in 10th, then earned a promotion to ninth when Max Verstappen was handed a time penalty that dropped him down to 10th in the running order.

It’s a solid result and a positive return, but according to Alonso, he was left with “mixed feelings” in an event that should have been much smoother.

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“Obviously happy for the points,” Alonso told media, including PlanetF1.com, after the Spanish Grand Prix.

“P9 is the first two points in the championship. And finally, we avoid the question on next Thursday, if that will be the weekend.

“But I was expecting a little bit more, probably, from the race.”

Even though Alonso could only set a lap fast enough for 10th on the grid in qualifying, he said that he “felt more competitive in qualifying than in the race,” which came down to some unexpected tyre wear — and overall speed.

“We had a lot of front tyre degradation, so the front left was done by seven laps into the stint,” he explained.

“And then we lack top speed, you know. So on the straights, we were losing a lot.

“I didn’t make any single overtake on the DRS. They were all made in Turn 3 on the outside, which is not a normal place to overtake, but we have to invent this kind of moves.

“Also in Imola, I was out of Turn 7, where I made like, three overtakes in the last few laps.

“So we need to solve this situation and start overtaking on the straight with the DRS, like everyone does.”

Being unable to pass without the help of the Drag Reduction System is damning; Alonso’s experience almost certainly helped him “invent” those overtake opportunities.

The Spaniard noted that these are issues that seem to be specific to Aston Martin, which can make for a frustrating weekend.

“Saturdays are quite competitive, and on Sundays, we seem to take a step back,” he said.

“So, you know, happy for today, for sure. First points, good Safety Car at the end, good timing of things.

“But you know, if we go back on Thursday and we redo the weekend, we need to change something on the car to be a little bit more Sunday biased than Saturday.

“It’s nice to free a little bit of pressure on everyone’s shoulders in the team and try to get some consistency into Q3.

“This was the third consecutive race on Q3, this is the first point. So if we build, you know, something that you are constantly in the top 10 on Saturdays and Sundays, definitely it will help everyone.”

But points are all-critical for Aston Martin in the race to avoid the bottom. After Spain, the team boasts 16 points — good enough for ninth in the standings and tied with Sauber as a result of Nico Hulkenberg’s impressive fifth-place finish.

“With Sauber scoring a lot of points today, it’s mandatory for us that we score points every weekend, or every two weekends,” Alonso said.

“We need to raise the level.”

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