Alonso reveals late Verstappen conunudrum

Fernando Alonso has insisted he was not conservative in his battle for the win at the Dutch Grand Prix having thought extensively about his late-race plans at Zandvoort.

The Aston Martin driver was chasing Verstappen in the final six-lap sprint for his 33rd career victory having been bunched back behind the Red Bull driver by a red flag thrown following a crash for Alfa Romeo's Zhou Guanyu in treacherous conditions.

Verstappen eventually went on to win by a margin of 3.7 seconds in front of his home crowd, while Alonso consolidated for his seventh podium this season.

The Spaniard had made a look to the inside of Turn 1 at the restart and having joked post-race that he may not have been able to leave the venue had he overhauled Verstappen, Alonso told media including RacingNews365.com: "I was thinking about trying. So I was not conservative, let's say!

"I thought about what to do, a lot, in the red flag period. So I thought, what were the possibilities, obviously, the move into Turn 2 was something that was in my head, also into Turn 1. I discussed it with the team as well.

"That was my feeling, that I wanted to try. But obviously, I don't want to compromise any big points for the team, because second was very important as well.

"But they were happy with me to try. I think they have the trust in me as well and in whatever I decide."

Alonso tried 'risky' move at restart

Alonso made a stunning start to the race by utilising the banking at Turn 3 to get past both George Russell and Alex Albon for third.

The two-time World Champion was prepared to risk a similar move on the home favourite, despite the treacherous conditions and explained: "At the restart, I tried launching the lap, trying to be flat in the banking with the cold tyres, which is a little bit risky, and tried to be side-by-side at least into Turn 1 but I was not that close," said Alonso.

"So after that, I tried some different lines – inside, outside – the opposite of Max for the first lap, in case one of the lines was very grippy or much grippier than he is. It was close, but not enough."