McLaren getting its first double point finish in recent Hungarian GP was like scoring a well-timed goal just before the halftime.
Last year Alonso scored the fifth position in the US Grand Prix and in the current season’s Hungarian GP, he came in sixth making it McLaren’s best so far this year.
Stoffel Vandoorne, his teammate scored his first point coming in 10th in the race.
“I’m really pleased for the drivers, the mechanics and everybody back at [McLaren HQ in] Woking,” Neale said. “It feels like scoring a goal before halftime.
“To pick up some points and move ourselves forward is always nice and validate the package. We had a reasonable upgrade programme here, all of which h as worked and we got ourselves a bit of reliability in the short term, which is nice as well.
“But it has been a tough first half of the season and I think everybody will be looking forward to a break.”
With the new haul of nine points, McLaren has finally moved up to the ninth slot in the constructor’s standings pushing Sauber down to tenth place.
After their disastrous performance in the current season, this was a welcome sign for the team.
Jonathan Neale says “We go from last to ninth. “It’s all progress. It’s the thrill of the chase as much as it is the outright winning. It will make victory taste sweeter.
“We’re a race team which loves to be at the front and at the moment, we can’t always be at the front. There are a lot of reasons to be optimistic about us going forwards.
“There is plenty of energy in the team and there are some frustrations of course but that’s not getting in the way of us moving forward.”
Neale also said that Vandoorne could have finished at 9th spot if he had pulled in to the pit correctly during his 42nd lap.
“Stoffel ran long and everyone had to reset, including the jack man,” said Neale. “So everyone is waiting for the jack to go under before you can get the wheels off.
“It was a reset because everybody was about half a metre to the right. We’re not used to running tyres that long and it’s easy then to come in and forget you haven’t got the grip you thought you had.
“We lost maybe a place there but still pleased. But Stoffel has driven a great few weekends for us now and his confidence is climbing.”
