Fernando Alonso dragged two points out of Zandvoort with the one strategy nobody else could make work. Starting P18 after a bruising Sprint weekend, the Aston Martin driver stretched his opening stint to lap 34, dropped to P13 at his only stop, then ran 37 laps on hards to pick off cars forced into second stops. P9 wasn't the plan, but in a midfield this tight, it counted.
The AMR26 still can't match rivals on the straights — Honda's new power unit brought drivability headaches, not horsepower — but the chassis is finally coming alive. Aston Martin has clawed back three seconds to the leaders in two races, and the car's tire-friendly nature opens strategy windows others can't touch. Alonso admitted the one-stop wasn't the original plan, but when you're stuck behind slower cars on straights, you take the free air and make it count.
Monza's power-hungry layout will expose the deficit again, but circuits where corner speed matters could deliver more surprise points before the season closes.
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