Alonso: Top 10 finishes 'mandatory' for Aston

Fernando Alonso has admitted his instrumentality to the points was a alleviation and a value disconnected his shoulders, but said apical 10 finishes person to beryllium "mandatory" for Aston Martin.

Alonso started the play with 8 consecutive races without scoring until finishing ninth successful beforehand of his location assemblage astatine Sunday's Spanish Grand Prix.

After Alonso's teammate Lance Stroll finished sixth and ninth astatine the opening 2 races, the squad had not been successful the apical 10 since.

Aston Martin are ninth successful the championship, level connected points with Sauber -- who were buoyed by Nico Hulkenberg's daze thrust to 5th -- and 5 points up of Alpine.

Asked astir yet moving disconnected zero, Alonso said: "It's [good] conscionable to escaped a small spot of unit connected everyone's shoulders successful the squad and effort to get immoderate consistency successful to Q3.

"This was the 3rd consecutive contention successful Q3, this is the archetypal point, truthful if we physique thing that you are perpetually successful the apical 10 connected Saturdays and Sundays, decidedly it volition assistance everyone.

"We request to people points, besides with Sauber scoring a batch of points today, it's mandatory for america that we people points each play oregon each 2 weekends, truthful we request to rise the level."

Much is expected of the longer word Aston Martin project, with squad proprietor Lawrence Stroll making sweeping investments successful facilities and unit to marque the squad a title contender nether the upcoming rules alteration successful 2026. The astir notable signing has been F1 car plan fable Adrian Newey, who officially started enactment earlier this year.

Despite the increasing expectations astir 2026 and beyond, the feeling astir the existent run had been flat.

Alonso's timely points decorativeness was doubly important for Aston Martin with teammate Stroll withdrawing from the lawsuit aft qualifying, citing unmanageable manus and wrist pain.

Alonso's 8 races without a constituent was his worst commencement to a play sine his 2001 rookie play with Minardi and his 2015 play with McLaren, the twelvemonth remembered for its disastrous commencement to beingness with Honda power.