Fernando Alonso finished twelfth in the Spanish Grand Prix but even after an early trip across the turn two gravel trap and a difficult time following Daniil Kvyat, he felt twelfth was as good as it was going to get in his home race.
The McLaren Honda Formula 1 Team racer had started seventh but fell down the order after being pushed into the gravel trap by his former Scuderia Ferrari team-mate Felipe Massa on the opening lap, before getting stuck behind Kvyat.
Alonso was disappointed not to convert his top ten start into his first points of the year, but he was happy to finally see the chequered flag for the first time in 2017 after retiring in the opening four races of the season.
“The race didn’t go as we’d planned,” admitted Alonso. “We were a little bit unlucky with the contact in Turn Two with Felipe [Massa] and then we were behind Daniil [Kvyat] for too many laps in the mid part of the race, but even without that I think we didn’t have the race pace to be in the points today to be honest.
“I’m a little disappointed, but at least we finished the race, and hopefully this is the first sign of a step forward in reliability. We now need to prepare better the next Grand Prix.”
