REPORT: A valiant fightback in Zandvoort

After a DSQ and a DNQ on Saturday, the team knew arriving on Sunday at the Dutch Grand Prix that they were in for an uphill battle.

Lining up from P18 and P19, both drivers enjoyed a clean opening lap. Alex gained two spots by T3, whilst Logan also climbed a place at the end of the final tour.

We opted to make the first stop of the race, bringing Alex in from P17 at the end of Lap 12 to fit fresh hard tyres.

Logan made what proved to be his only stop of the lap on Lap 22, fitting hards that would take him to the finish.

Approaching the midway point of the race, Logan was in P19 whilst Alex was in P11 battling with Kevin Magnussen to break into the top 10.

On Lap 40, Alex had to back off the accelerator heading around the final banked turn whilst fighting the Dane - he’d pass the Haas on the pit straight, but Pierre Gasly was there to take advantage too, meaning Alex remained P11.

The two Aston Martins would make their way past in the successive laps that followed, meanwhile, Logan began defending against Yuki Tsunoda and Magnussen - a battle that would last the remainder of the afternoon.

On Lap 54, Alex was in for his second and final stop, allowing him to take advantage of Logan’s resolute defence and close right back up to the Haas and RB.

Lap 58 saw him send it on Magnussen, then he’d pass Tsunoda on Lap 59 before Sarge let Alex by as he set off in pursuit of Esteban Ocon for P14.

With two laps remaining, our Thai racer caught the Alpine and made a move stick at T1, returning him to P14.

Logan, on some of the oldest tyres in the field, maintained his P16 to the flag on yet another afternoon in the modern ground effect era that saw all 20 cars finish.

Alex reflected on his race by commenting: "It was a tough one today. Being out of position at the start meant we unfortunately didn’t have the pure pace to get through the midfield battle.

"If we started where we should have, P9 was likely possible for this circuit, but that’s just how it is.

"Unfortunately, our championship rivals are the ones that benefited the most from this, which is a bit of a double whammy.

"We did try different things with our strategy but were covered off by other cars in front of us who were trying to help their teammate, so it’s a bit unfortunate.

"In terms of silver linings, it’s positive that the upgrade worked and the car is strong, so we’ll take the challenges and learnings from this tough weekend and try to focus on Monza."

Logan started his reaction by paying tribute to the team.

"Firstly, A big thank you to everyone for getting the car turned around for today, it’s greatly appreciated from my side as I know how much work goes into it," Sarge shared.

"Nonetheless, I lacked a little bit of pace today. We tried to make the one-stop work which was tricky with a lot of defending and blue flags to deal with, but it was always going to be tough from where we started."

Sven Smeets, Sporting Director, concluded our reaction by saying: "The race unfolded today as we expected, with many drivers going for the one-stop strategy on Medium and Hard tyres.

"Alex had a good start picking up a few places but then got stuck, so we decided to pit him early and go for a two-stop.

"During the race, he managed to pass a few more drivers and ended the race in P14.

"With Logan, we decided to stay out and go for the one-stop. He had a good last stint holding Tsunoda and Magnussen behind him on old Hard tyres and finished in P16.

"A frustrating weekend for the team but we are looking forward to Monza as the new package has shown a good step in performance and should suit the car."