Fernando Alonso places F1 rivals on alert after season-first at Dutch GP

Fernando Alonso has warned the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull that Aston Martin is in the fight at Zandvoort following a strong Dutch Grand Prix Friday. 

Team-mate Lance Stroll finished third in FP1 before Alonso actually split the dominant McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri in FP2, finishing 0.087s down on Norris.

The result was Alonso's first top-three placing in a practice session all season, with the Aston Martin continuing to show the strong pace it did in Hungary, where Alonso was fifth and Stroll seventh in the race.

Reflecting on his Friday, the two-time world champion believes that whilst McLaren will be out of reach, the usual suspects in the chasing pack are well within Aston's strike range.

"I am a little bit more optimistic than after some other Fridays we have done," Alonso explained.

"Hungary was strong for us, and now we are at Zandvoort and we're still showing good pace in Free Practice, but we know it is only practice, but it is good to see our times up there. 

"I don't think it is within our reach to fight with the McLarens, but maybe some of the top teams, like Mercedes, Ferrari, and Red Bull, don't seem too far away, so we will try to be in the mix.

"The main focus for the rest of the season is to make sure we understand what we're doing at the factory translates into learnings on track, and it seems that everything we brought in the last couple of months is working as expected.

"So this brings huge confidence into what we will do over the winter, knowing our tools and what we are doing in the factory should translate into next year."