Alonso: P13 is nothing to celebrate

Editor

Fernando Alonso was struggling to be positive after qualifying 13th on the grid for the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne.

Many have been fearing the worst for McLaren as their rocky relationship with engine suppliers Honda continues, but both Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne have at least managed to qualify for Sunday's race.

Alonso, though, has still bemoaned the MCL32's limited capability and said he could get nothing more from the car.

“I think I extracted the maximum from the car, so I’m happy in that sense. But probably there’s nothing to celebrate being 13th,” Alonso said.

“But we weren’t sure where we were in terms of competitiveness and reliability. Reliability wise we have been able to run more or less without problems and now in qualifying we are 13th.

“We have to wait a few races to know where we really are, but there’s a long way to go.”

Alonso is also not particularly excited about picking up a few points here and there, and only winning interests him.

“It doesn’t matter. Scoring one point, two, five, or being outside the points won’t change much for me,” he said.

“I want to be on the podium, winning races, and we are not in that position.

“We will do our best tomorrow, but we need help from our rivals as we are not competitive enough to be in the points on merit.”