Fernando Alonso, Aston Martin (P8) 5/10
Despite securing four valuable points for himself and Aston Martin, Alonso is probably disappointed with his result at the Dutch Grand Prix. Firstly, the veteran Spaniard lost three places on the opening lap, falling outside the top ten. After growing frustrated behind a train of slower cars, Alonso opted to pit for a second time to get some clear air. He quickly closed back in on the train and got lucky when a second Safety Car prompted many of those ahead of him to pit and fall behind. However, on aging tyres the Aston Martin driver’s positive momentum came to a halt, and he was passed by several drivers in the final few laps.
Lance Stroll, Aston Martin (P7) 7/10
Stroll gained 12 positions from his starting grid position on 19th, and while luck played a part he also put in consistently good laps behind the wheel and got past slower drivers whenever he had the opportunity. An unorthodox strategy to pit early on for a set of durable hard tyres worked well as the Canadian moved up into the points after the first Safety Car period ended. He then had some bad luck by pitting just before the second Safety Car, falling back outside the top ten. But the 26-year-old did well to carve his way past numerous other competitors before the Grand Prix’s conclusion to secure seventh. It all made up for his successive crashes in practice earlier in the weekend.
