Fernando Alonso described McLaren’s Hungarian Grand Prix strategy as “perfect” after he rose up the order to take eighth place.
Alonso started from 11th spot, a position he maintained at te start, but slipped back a spot after being overhauled by the recovering Daniel Ricciardo, and also lost out to Romain Grosjean.
Alonso responded by extending his stint on Soft tyres while rivals who pitted for fresh tyres were stuck behind the yet-to-stop Esteban Ocon.
The pace differential between Alonso and the Ocon-slowed group of Carlos Sainz Jr., Brendon Hartley, Nico Hulkenberg and Grosjean was such that the McLaren driver emerged ahead when he stopped on lap 39.
From there, Alonso maintained position to record eighth, having taken on a set of Mediums for the second stint.
“It was definitely a good Sunday for us and it was down to the pit-wall, as they executed the perfect strategy,” said Alonso.
“They decided to extend the first stint as much as we could, doing something around 15 laps more than the others, and that meant Stoffel [Vandoorne] and myself recovered three or four positions.
“We really deserved eighth and ninth places, but unfortunately the gearbox problem prevented Stoffel from taking any points, otherwise it would’ve been a perfect Sunday for us.
“I’m happy we’ve delivered the result and have scored another four points for the team. Sunday is where it finally counts!”
McLaren maintained seventh position in the Constructors’ Championship though edged closer to Force India, amid the Silverstone-based team’s failure to score.
