Alonso realistic ahead of Zandvoort: 'It's harder now'

Fernando Alonso had a difficult end to the first half of the season. The Spaniard did not come close to the podium with his Aston Martin, while he was a regular there in the early stages of the year. "That's Formula 1, things change quickly," he said at Zandvoort on Thursday.

Also in the press room at the Dutch circuit, Alonso was asked to look back on the first months of the season. "I think it was a surprise for us," the two-time champion responded. "The car was fast but I think the team was outstanding over the winter, understanding what the problems were last year. I think reliability, everything, strategy. We did things really good in most of the races to get those results."

"It's not only the pace of the car. You need to master everything in the weekend from free practice one until Sunday. I think we are playing in the Champions League at the moment and we are finding ourselves with the very top teams trying to overdevelop as well off-track. This is going to be the biggest challenge for Aston Martin now."

This weekend, some updates have been put on the car. With that, the goal is clear: "The podium? I hope so! I will not be disappointed. It is more difficult now. I think there is more competition up there fighting for points. As we said before, four teams now fighting quite closely. It's going to be difficult to get another six in the second half but I will be happy with two or three, I hope."