Fernando Alonso praised the decision of his McLaren team after strategy allowed him to claim eighth place on his birthday at the Hungarian Grand Prix.

After a tricky qualifying, which saw him just outside the top 10 in 11th, the Spaniard would look to make progress in the race and he would do so jumping up the order after running longer than most of the midfield cars around him.

His eventual result in eighth signalled the third time he has finished in that position in the past four races and offered the British team a nice boost entering the summer break.

“Yeah definitely, I enjoyed it and it is a happy Sunday and birthday for me,” Alonso said back in the paddock.

“Again, we struggled on Saturday, even with the mixed conditions but then on Sunday, we delivered the result and more points for the team.

“Anyway, I think it was a good and happy day, especially for the strategy. I think the pit wall really did an amazing job today, extending the first stint.”

Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne was also enjoying one of his stronger races, closely following the double world champion in ninth, only for disaster to strike with just under 20 laps to go.

“We were in a strong position, also with Stoffel, double points for McLaren, but unfortunately he had a gearbox problem," Alonso stated.

For the now 37-year-old, his next month is a little busier than the rest as he will return to his duties with Toyota in the WEC as he looks for a third straight win.

“I still have two weeks completely off now,” he said. "I don’t know what I will do in these weeks but yeah, I am looking forward to [the 6 Hours of] Silverstone.

“It is a fantastic circuit, and with an LMP1 car, it will fit quite well to that track.”