Fernando Alonso: 'Red Bull is the next target'

By finishing fifth this Sunday in Australia, Fernando Alonso equals his best result with McLaren since his return to Woking in 2015. A start to the 2018 season which offers reasons for satisfaction for the British team, after lackluster winter testing.

McLaren, however, benefited from several favorable circumstances in the race this Sunday, which the double world champion recognizes.

“Obviously today we were lucky with both cars Haas who give up, the problem of Carlos Sainz at turn n°9, and then we passed Verstappen under safety car regime (the Dutchman of Red Bull returned his position to Alonso after passing MCL33 under yellow flag), admits Alonso.

Let's say that four positions were recovered thanks to favorable conditions, but we made no mistakes and we capitalized on everything possible. It’s a perfect job from the team. »

Eric Boullier, competition director of McLaren Racing, also specified “feel sorry for Haas” after the abandonment of the two VF18s of Magnussen et Grosjean, victims of a probable poor wheel attachment during their visits to the respective pits.

Despite everything, the result offers interesting prospects according to Fernando Alonso, who is already showing the next objectives of the British team. “We did not maximize the potential or extract everything from our package today, highlights the Spaniard.

This is only our first race with Renault, and some updates will come in the next races. We can start to anticipate a little and Red Bull will be the next target. As I said before, this race will probably be our weakest performance this season as things will improve. »

Discover the full report and analysis of the Australian Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Melbourne, in issue 2158 of AUTOhebdo, available tomorrow evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.