Alonso believes he can score points regularly
Boosted by his 6th-place finish at the last Grand Prix in Russia, Fernando Alonso now believes that McLaren has what it takes to score points at every Grand Prix to come. However, the gap between all the drivers is very tight, which the Spaniard believes will make the task difficult.
Some will say they benefited from the race circumstances, others will claim their pace was good. But it must be noted that McLaren was back in the big league during the last race in Russia.
With a 6th place for Fernando Alonso and a 10th for Jenson Button, the British team made a notable return to the points. Enough to instill confidence in the future for the Spanish driver: « Unlike last year when we made good starts but were unable to maintain our positions, this year, we have the pace. Qualifying in Russia had been relatively disappointing, but we regained normal pace during the race. I think being in the points regularly can be a goal for us from now on. »
To nuance his remarks that some might find very optimistic, the double world champion recalls that the competition is very tight behind the Mercedes: There is a group of cars quite close fighting for Q3, and we are the last of these cars. We are still missing a few tenths that would help us a lot to gain a few positions.
The often-criticized Honda power unit could make a difference, but there are still some missing elements as Alonso points out: « Others can increase the power of their engine between Q1, Q2, and Q3. We can’t do that yet, so our performance remains more or less the same, which is why we seem a bit better in practice than in qualifying. »
