Fernando Alonso believes McLaren’s latest upgrade package, implemented last weekend in Spain, has brought the Woking-based outfit up to the same level as its top mid-field rivals.
McLaren brought several significant modifications to its MCL33, mainly centered around the car’s front end which received a striking new nose assembly.
Alonso qualified his updated P8, making the Q3 cut for the first time this year. The Spaniard finished the race in the same position, but despite the fact that he was outrun at the end of the day by Haas’ Kevin Magnussen and Renault’s Carlos Sainz the McLaren driver insists his team is on the same level as its nearest competitors.
-
Vandoorne: ‘A useful exercise and a step forward’
“We knew that the upgrades would put ourselves in a better position in the midfield pack,” said the two-time world champion.
“We did a good step. We were eight tenths behind Renault in Baku, nine tenths behind in China, but we were the same in qualifying and in the race [in Spain].
“I think we caught up with Renault and probably with Haas as well, but the top three teams are still developing the cars at the same rate we do and unfortunately we’ve kept that gap.”
Alonso was the only top-10 driver on the grid to launch his race on supersoft tyres rather than Pirelli’s soft compound, but the commotion at the start induced by a spin by Romain Grosjean wreaked havoc on his plan to charge ahead and gain an advantage at the outset.
©WRI