Fernando Alonso just etched his name into the history books at Zandvoort by becoming the oldest driver to score points in Formula 1 since 1974. The Aston Martin driver, aged 45, bagged ninth place and capped off what was a genuinely impressive performance given the team's struggles this season. Alonso nailed a one-stop strategy that saw him run an extended stint on the soft tires, extracting everything he could from the AMR26. For a team that's been battling serious performance issues, this result felt like a proper breakthrough moment.

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Aston Martin brought serious updates to the circuit, including a new Honda power unit specification, but the improvements remain marginal. Alonso's ability to manage the strategy and execute cleanly was the real difference maker here. His ninth place finish equals his and the team's best result of the campaign, giving them some genuine momentum heading into the second half of the season. It's a reminder that sometimes experience and racecraft can overcome raw pace deficits.

Williams, meanwhile, had an absolutely nightmare afternoon. Carlos Sainz and Alex Albon were nowhere near the points fight from the start, and things got worse when they collided late in the race. Sainz locked up into Turn 1 on worn hard tires and slid straight into Albon, earning himself a penalty in the process. Albon was particularly frustrated, reckoning the team's strategy call to pit early cost them potential points. He'd been fighting Fernando early on before getting caught in dirty air and stuck behind a slew of blue flags.

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Yuki Tsunoda's one-off return to racing provided some genuine entertainment value. Filling in at Racing Bulls while Liam Lawson drove for Red Bull, Tsunoda pulled off a brilliant lunge on Pierre Gasly but narrowly missed out on points in 11th place. He admitted he'd missed the racing and overtaking, so even though the result was a near miss, it felt good for him to get back out there. Lawson managed to keep seventh place in the Red Bull after Max Verstappen's early accident, scoring his first points in Red Bull colors.

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Audi continues to build momentum with a fourth consecutive points finish. Nico Hulkenberg had a tense opening lap when Gabriel Bortoleto spun ahead of him, but Hulkenberg kept it clean and eventually picked off eighth place. The German praised the team's strategy and clean racing, emphasizing that these points are crucial for their championship push. Haas had the opposite experience, with both Oliver Bearman and Esteban Ocon struggling, making it a thoroughly horrible weekend for the team.

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