Alonso enjoys the new F1, but urges Honda to improve
Fernando Alonso praised the new technical regulation of Formula One and stressed that Pirelli's new wider and much durable tyres allow the drivers to push very hard and for a long period. However, the Spaniard was less delighted with the performance of his new McLaren-Honda.
Alonso started the season-opening Australian GP from the 12th place after the five-place drop of Daniel Ricciardo. The Spaniard was fighting in the points and was set to score a point for McLaren-Honda which endured a rather troublesome winter testing period.
“In terms of driving, I probably had one of my very best races today. I was able to drive the car at my maximum; I felt confident, and I enjoyed driving the car throughout the race – I was able to push.”
“With such little degradation from this year’s tyres, it’s enjoyable to be in the cockpit again. However, that enjoyment is less for us, because we are not fighting at the front.”
However, Alonso continued to be critical with the performance of his car and blamed the performance deficit of the Honda power unit compared to the field-leading Ferrari and Mercedes ones.
“Our car is obviously not very competitive at the moment, so being able to keep the car in the points was a little surprising. At the end of the race, I had a problem that prevented me from finishing the race.
“It’s disappointing to see we’re not ready to fight at the front – we need to quickly make some further improvements," concluded the double world champion.
