Alonso thinks that McLaren could improve by 2.5 seconds in 2016
Fernando Alonso considers it realistic the possibility of seeing McLaren-Honda improve by 2.5 seconds per lap next year. For the Spaniard, Honda has learned enough to make significant progress during the offseason.
After tasting the black bread every Sunday of the season, Fernando Alonso hopes that 2016 will have a completely different flavor. The Spaniard is visibly very optimistic: he thinks that McLaren-Honda could gain 2.5 seconds per lap during the off-season. “Two and a half seconds. If we improve by two and a half seconds, we will be in a position to win next year,” declared the double world champion in Austin.
« It’s realistic »,” he argued. « It’s realistic because we need to work very hard and all together with strict discipline all winter, because in this new Formula 1, the entire ensemble of the car is a package. All combined, it creates the perfect car, and we are working on it. We’ve understood this and are doing our best. It’s a big gap we need to close. »
Fernando Alonso doesn’t forget pure performance for all that: « We must also greatly improve reliability, because we cannot forget that we have used 11 engines so far, which is something we cannot afford next year. »
The Iberian is nonetheless aware of the journey that remains before even considering a podium for McLaren: So there are many things to implement, but all the steps and initiatives the team has taken in the last two months are good, are logical, and I am positive. Winning is another step altogether. Winning means beating the Mercedes, so for us it will be a huge task, but we are at least ready to try.
The progress of the Woking team in 2016 will depend, as everyone knows, primarily on the improvements of the Honda engine, which has been significantly underpowered this season. This weekend in Austin, Fernando Alonso will benefit from an improved version with an additional 20 to 30 horsepower. But much more will be needed for next year. Honda is working on it, assures Fernando Alonso. They don’t promise everything because they have too many things to set up first and evaluate, but I think they are very optimistic about next year’s engine performance. I think they have learned a lot of things, many unexpected things. I think the steps we can take are far more significant than any other team. For us, each lap provides a new lesson.
Fernando Alonso is still under contract with McLaren-Honda until 2017.
