Fernando Alonso enabled Aston Martin to score their first points since August by finishing eighth at the Malaysian Grand Prix held in Sepang.
Starting from 12th position, Alonso was skeptical about his chances of finishing in the points, anticipating difficulties on the straights and a lack of pace to regain lost positions.
The rain that arrived on Sunday disrupted predictions, and despite a poor tire choice at the start—medium slicks on a still damp track—Alonso managed to take advantage of the situation.
While his teammate Lance Stroll quickly switched to intermediate tires, Alonso stayed out on slicks, hoping a safety car would allow him to change tires at a lower cost and rejoin the pack.
This strategy paid off: Alonso even overtook Lewis Hamilton and steadily progressed to enter the points by passing Arvid Lindblad before a safety car period.
Retirements from George Russell and an incident involving Lando Norris allowed Alonso to gain further positions, ultimately finishing eighth ahead of Norris.
Alonso emphasized that Aston Martin’s competitiveness this weekend, with both cars reaching Q2, contributed to this result, and he hopes to maintain this pace, particularly at the Singapore Grand Prix the following week.