Fernando Alonso believes McLaren “deserved” to score points at the Japanese Grand Prix after he just missed out finished 11th in an eventful race on Sunday, the last with Honda at their home track.
The Spaniard was in a far too common situation of having to make his way through the field from the back of the grid after taking an all-new power unit after practice but had made some progress before he and teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, who started ninth, became stuck behind Lance Stroll.
When able to run in clear air, it would be the Canadian’s tyre failure and subsequent Virtual Safety Car which allowed Alonso to close right up on his Williams partner Felipe Massa for 10th but the double world champion wouldn’t find a way through.
“I think we deserved the points,” he said afterwards. “It was a huge effort from everybody on the team after the penalty with the engine change. We started 20th, we finished 11th. It was a good recovery, with only one stop, starting with a set of scrubbed tyres.”
In those final laps trying to pass the Brazilian, Alonso would earn himself a post-race reprimand and two penalties for holding up race leader Lewis Hamilton and ignoring blue flags. The McLaren driver would also disrupt Max Verstappen’s effort to challenge the Mercedes after cutting in front of the Red Bull after letting his former team-mate by.
“It was unlucky situations,” the 36-year-old claimed. “I think when Felipe was struggling along with the tyres the Virtual Safety Car came in. He breathed a little bit in those laps. Then in the last two laps, the leaders came through us, and unfortunately, he breathed again and took the final point. But we’ll try again in Austin.”
