Alonso glad to finish 'most difficult race of the year' at Monza

Fernando Alonso was glad to finish the Italian Grand Prix after branding it one of the 'most difficult races' of the year for Aston Martin.

The two-time champion finished in ninth place just eight-tenths behind Lando Norris, after struggling to match the top speeds of the cars ahead of him with the draggy AMR23.

The Spaniard claimed that it was a difficult race when speaking to media including RacingNews365: "It was a very demanding race; mentally and physically to drive the car with very low grip which made it very tricky to drive," he said.

"So for me, it was one of the most difficult races of the year and it's the worst result. It's going to be an anonymous race, nobody will remember this but I will do in my head because it has been a tough one."

Alonso hopes Aston Martin take 'many lessons'

His teammate Lance Stroll did not break into the top ten all weekend, finishing the race in 16th and nearly a lap down.

Alonso hopes that Aston Martin can takeaway a lot from the race, as it was clear the track was an outlier compared to their pace at others.

"Many, many lessons we need to take on this race," he explained.

"We were not competitive, so the main focus for us is try to understand at this type of circuit what we need to do different into the future and next year when we come here.

"We were slow from the beginning to the end. We want to fight for better than ninth, so we take these points but hopefully many lessons."