F1’s summer break officially ended with the Dutch GP at the weekend for Fernando Alonso and all drivers. With quite a Safety Cars and DNFs, the fierce race at Zandvoort was full of action.
Alonso finished eighth at the Dutch Grand Prix, right behind his teammate, Lance Stroll.
Difficult race with poorly timed pit stops
Starting 10th, Fernando Alonso was hoping to gains spots throughout the race. The Spanish F1 driver had the pace for it as well. However, the Dutch Grand Prix did not pass as a normal, calm, and stable race.
The Zandvoort track witnessed 3 DNFs that included Lewis Hamilton, Charles Leclerc, and Lando Norris, respectively. They were all drivers who competed for at least a top 5 finish. This naturally delivered Safety Cars, allowing many to get cheaper stops behind them.
While some drivers were very lucky with their pit stop strategies, Alonso was left frustrated by his team since he believed they made the wrong choice regarding the timing of his stops on both occasions. He boxed under green conditions both times.
His radio calls during the race, as well as his post-race interview in the print media pen, demonstrated his annoyance about the situation.
“I think on the first stop, I’m not sure it was the best thing where we pit it and the strategy we opted for, and in the second, I was just worried that we would just stay behind for the whole race and do the same as the others.
“I felt that the car had more pace, so I wanted to do something different than the others and try to overtake them.”
Unlucky and lucky at the same time
Though Aston Martin’s strategy disappointed Alonso and made him feel unlucky with the Safety Cars compared to his opponents, the Spaniard acknowledged that the Dutch Grand Prix had some luck to offer him eventually.
3 DNFs from those who would have most likely finished in the top 5 helped. Kimi Antonelli, who was penalised by the stewards for the crash with Leclerc and speeding in the pits, helped to get him points. Thus, the veteran highlighted that P8 would have not been their actual finish.
Nevertheless, the Spaniard thinks that his pace deserved a better result by looking at his own and other teams’ performance throughout the race. He highlighted he felt they had better pace than Alex Albon, who finished 5th.
“We overtook at the end one Red Bull and one Haas, and the other Haas finished in front of us. They were a little bit lucky with the last safety car.
“We were lucky also with the retirements and the penalty of Kimi. If not, we were not in the points, so we need to be aware of that.
“I think we’ve been significantly faster than some of the cars that finished in front of us, like the Williams and the Haas. So yeah, I don’t know. Albon finished in P5, so I think that P5 was very possible with our pace today.”
A race with “action always going on”
Alonso admitted the chaotic nature of how the 2025 Dutch Grand Prix passed. Though it might have been a bit challenging to compete in a race that included many DNFs, penalties, and yellow flags, the Spaniard was left wanting more, turning his focus to the next destination, Monza, right ahead.
“I mean, I didn’t watch the race. But there seemed to be a little bit of action always going on.
“So yeah, it was probably a good race to watch at the end. Let’s see if Monza provides some action as well.”
