'Not always the plan' - Fernando Alonso hails reactive Aston Martin after Dutch GP points

Fernando Alonso has praised Aston Martin for its quick thinking after a change of strategy at the Dutch Grand Prix helped him to score points for only the second time this season.

Alonso bounced back from a difficult start to the weekend at Zandvoort by climbing from 18th position on the Formula 1 grid to finish in ninth, recording Aston Martin's best finish this season after a year spent competing largely at the back of the grid. 

The result came on a weekend where Honda brought a power unit upgrade that was criticised as 'not being enough' by both the two-time champion and team-mate Lance Stroll. 

While there was a mix of two and three-stop plans on display as virtual safety car interruptions changed the picture of the race, Aston Martin switched things up in the opposite direction, cutting Alonso to only a single stop - a plan which worked out for the better. 

"That was not the plan," said Alonso. "I think the plan was two stops and to go more conventional.

"But we need to sometimes deviate a little bit from what is the normal things, as when we are in traffic, we cannot use our potential. We were faster in the corners than the people in front of us, we were slower on the straights, and we were stuck behind.

"So as soon as we had free track in front of us, we tried to use it. Even if it's not the optimal performance and the optimal strategy, and it's what we did today."

Alonso's only previous point came in the highly controversial Monaco Grand Prix, with his success largely coming due to a raft of pit lane speeding penalties being awarded to rival drivers. 

Asked if this result was a deserved one, he added: "Yeah, I think so. 

"I think we scored one point in Monaco with nine DNFs, and today we scored two points. So, I think it was well-deserved. 

"Probably in Budapest, we could have done a little bit better. It will depend circuit-by-circuit, depending on how many straights we have. 

"So, I don't expect in Monza to be competitive, but maybe in some other circuits we have another chance to be in the points."