Fernando Alonso grateful for unexpected points windfall present

Budapest: "That was a nice little present," said Spain`s two-time world champion Fernando Alonso on Sunday after he had finished a surprising fifth in the Hungarian Grand Prix.

With his British McLaren Honda team-mate Jenson Button coming home ninth, it meant the beleaguered outfit secured their first double points finish of the season.

"We never expected to be fifth, but the race was very chaotic in some parts and some little opportunities arrived to us and we maximised them," said Alonso who, on Saturday, had suggested he was growing disenchanted with Formula One and was considering his future.

"We took everything that was available and it`s good to go into the summer break with a result for the guys in the factory.

"We know the car is improving and we`re getting competitive, but it`s always nice to touch it with your hands and put some points on the board.

"It`s been a difficult season for everybody in the team, not only Jenson and me, but slowly we will increase our competitiveness, reliability and performance.

"What we need is a good second part of the season to get ready for 2016, which is the main target now."

Button said he was also pleased to earn points for the team, but stressed that much work remained for the team to climb back among the front-runners.

"It`s massive for us, but I think we`ve got to be realistic as well and look at how many other cars knocked each other off, or had penalties," said the 2009 world champion.

"It`s definitely a step forward in terms of performance, just looking at the points, but we need to do a lot more."

McLaren`s result in Sunday`s astonishing race came after yet another troubled qualifying on Saturday when both cars suffered technical problems again.