But Alonso couldn’t hide his frustration post-race at battling with cars lower down the field, having been fighting for rostrums last season.
“I hope we understand things that we are doing wrong, as definitely we are doing something really wrong and we get better for Baku,” Alonso concluded.
As for his team mate, Lance Stroll started down the order and wound up propping up the field after taking a third pit stop on Sunday, in an optimistic bid to deny anyone in the top 10 the fastest lap bonus point.
“[The pace] was as expected, just not competitive this weekend,” the Canadian said, succinctly summing up a disappointing showing in Italy. He’ll hope for better in Baku, a venue where he finished in the points last season.
Alonso and Stroll both at least have the hope that Aston Martin can entice legendary F1 designer Adrian Newey to join the team, with Aston and Alpine emerging as the front-runners to claim Newey’s signature in recent weeks.