McLaren Honda
Fernando Alonso says his fifth position at the Hungarian Grand Prix is a 'little present' for McLaren as it enjoyed its best race of a difficult season.
McLaren has endured a troublesome campaign as it renews its association with Honda and had scored just five points prior to Alonso's fifth position.
"This was a very good race, and fifth position at the finish is a nice little present for the whole team, particularly as we’re not as competitive as we’d like right now," he said.
"On the calendar, there are a handful of circuits where we expected our performance to be better – Monaco, Singapore, and here in Hungary, so we knew we needed to make the most of today.
"Critically, we did just that: it was a chaotic race, and we took advantage of every opportunity that came our way.
"These points are a good way to send the whole team into the summer break, but we need to further maximise our chances in the second half of the season."
Team-mate Jenson Button added another couple of points to McLaren's tally as he collected ninth position.
"Fernando did a great job today," he said. "Fitting the Option tyre for the final stint was the right decision for him; I didn’t stop for tyres under the Safety Car whereas pretty much everyone around me did.
"That decision made it very difficult for me, because my used Primes were pretty old by the end of the race, and there were plenty of faster cars around me running fresher Options.
"Still, it was a fun race, and it’s great to get points ahead of the summer break. The accidents and penalties certainly helped us, but we still did a good job out there today.
"This is a step forward for us, but we’ll need to take another step if we’re to repeat this sort of result. Equally, the next two races – at Spa and Monza – will probably be difficult for us, but it’s good to see we’re making progress."
