But Alonso could not hide his frustration after the race at having to battle with cars further down the field, having been fighting for podiums last season.
“I hope we understand the things we are doing wrong, because we are definitely doing something very wrong, and we improve for Baku,” Alonso concluded.
As for his teammate, Lance Stroll started back in the order and ended up shoring up the field after making a third pit stop on Sunday in an optimistic attempt to deny anyone in the top 10 the bonus point for fastest lap.
“[The pace] “It was as expected, but it wasn’t competitive this weekend,” said the Canadian, succinctly summing up his disappointing performance in Italy. He will hope to improve in Baku, a place where he finished in the points last season.
Alonso and Stroll are at least hopeful that Aston Martin can convince legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey to join the team, with Aston and Alpine on the rise as the favourites to claim Newey’s signature in recent weeks.