Fernando Alonso says McLaren needed some luck after he picked up a 45-place grid penalty for the Malaysian Grand Prix, admitting the team got that in the race.
The Spaniard was given the substantial grid penalty prior to qualifying after McLaren changed various engine components.
He only completed a limited number of laps in qualifying and was the slowest of the Q1 runners, starting from last place.
Alonso had a strong start to move into the top 10 and crossed the line in seventh place, after a busy race which featured some intense on-track fights.
“It was definitely a very exiting race for us today, with some great battles,” he said. “Having started from the very back, we recovered some good places at the start – and were lucky not to get caught up in the first-corner accident.
“I was actually surprised by my position, because I’d already got into the points after just a bunch of laps. At that point, we had some debate over the radio about the strategy – about whether to be aggressive or more conservative.
“Eventually, we decided to attack and use all the new sets of option tyres we had left over from qualifying.
“The final Virtual Safety Car certainly played in our favour, because it allowed us to use the last new set. After this weekend’s penalties, we needed some luck – and we got that today.”
His team-mate Jenson Button, celebrating his 300th F1 race start, made it two McLarens in the top 10 with ninth place: “My race wasn’t too bad – but I got so unlucky with the Virtual Safety Car.
“The cars behind me were on a three-stop and I was on a two-stopper – then, three laps after I pitted, there was a Virtual Safety Car, which meant they were all able to gain 15 seconds on me for free.
“It’s a shame I missed it – but luck has not been on my side for these last few races. I was actually up into fourth position at the start before a couple of cars dragged past me on the opening lap.
“The two-stopper was the better strategy today, but it’s too difficult to make work when there’s a VSC; I was looking good for seventh up until that point. Hopefully I’ll have a bit more luck in the last five races.”
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