Alonso delighted with first points of the season, but reveals crucial weakness of his car

Having collected his first points of the season at his home race in Spain, Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso sounded a positive note after a run of misfortunate races, but he was left to rue the straight-line speed of his car that left him vulnerable on the straights.

On the back of two races where he was looking good for points, Fernando Alonso arrived at his home race in Spain in the hope that he will collects his first championship units of the season.

The Spaniard qualified well on Saturday, and he was the only Aston Martin driver to line up on the grid on Sunday after his team-mate Lance Stroll was forced to withdraw amid medical advice.

Alonso's race was not going well after he lost positions at the start. The Spaniard then lost a handful of places after the rear of his AMR25 stepped out and sent him the Spaniard through the gravel at Turn 5.

He pitted early, but he was unable to make progression as he found himself squabbling with the traffic outside the points. However, he pitted under the late safety car while some of his rivals stayed out.

Thanks to his fresher tyres, Alonso was able to pick up three places late on to climb to P10 – inheriting ninth after Verstappen’s penalty for his first points score of the season.

Reflecting on his home race in Barcelona, Alonso stated: "It's always special racing at home, and it means a lot to score my first points of the season here in Barcelona. The support from the fans was amazing.

“I’m pleased, pleased for the fans as well that were very excited at the end, I saw the people standing up and things like that in the last few laps, so happy for them,” Alonso said.

“For us, the race was more difficult than anticipated, we were very slow on the straights. All the moves we had to be aggressive on Turn 3 on the outside, so not a normal overtaking place but it is what we had today. I definitely felt more comfortable on Saturday than Sunday.

“It was a little higher level of risk in this race because overtaking is difficult, following is difficult because it is killing the tyres, so we were aggressive."

Signing off with a word for the end results, Alonso stated: "As I said, I was expecting a little bit more from the race pace but let’s take the points that we scored today and build the momentum from now on.”

"I'm happy to take the points in the end, and now we'll look to keep the momentum going as we head to Canada. We missed Lance today and I wish him a quick recovery."