Alonso: McLaren-Honda has made “a big step forward”

Back behind the wheel of the MP4-30 more than a month after his accident and concussion, Fernando Alonso believes that McLaren has made significant progress since his last laps during private testing.

« It’s much better, » he stated as reported by our British colleagues at Autosport. « To be honest, the experience I had during the winter was a lot of problems with the car. After 4 or 5 laps, we had to stop and change something. We were 4.6 seconds behind pole in Australia; here, we could be 3 or 3.5 seconds behind, so a gain of one or one and a half seconds in two weeks. It’s a big step forward. »

From there to getting into Q2 in qualifying? « I don’t know. For us, there is so much to learn. There is so much progress to be made with the power units and the braking system, so every lap is important for us. There is no clear objective for us this weekend. The progress made by the team in 15 days is quite interesting. »

The optimism of the Spaniard is moderately shared by Jenson Button, his teammate: « Today it was very tricky for everyone in terms of feeling with the car. I even think that the fastest cars are struggling to find a consistent balance. The wind makes things very difficult, so it was complicated but we seem a little bit more competitive than in the last race. I may have been wrong yesterday when I said we wouldn’t be fighting against any car. It’s a possibility and it would be a huge step forward if that were the case. »

On the fitness side, Fernando Alonso acknowledges that his isn’t perfect: « I feel very good in the car, ultimately after the sport, the simulator, everything you do is never the same as when you drive the car. The conditions here are extreme, very hot, physically it is very demanding. I am not 100% physically after two weeks and two weeks of not being in the car, but enough to enjoy. »