Alonso: Very competitive with Renault power

McLaren can expect a much-improved campaign this season with Fernando Alonso confident they can be “very, very competitive” racing Renault engines.

After three wretched years with Honda, McLaren will swap to Renault power this season.

It is a move that is expected to bolster McLaren’s chances of a podium finish, and maybe even a win.

“Hopefully the last three years will be forgotten very quickly,” Alonso told ESPN. “It’s a completely different game for us.

“We believe that we could be very, very competitive with a Renault power unit next year.

“All the preparations of the new car, it is looking much, much [more] promising than before.

“Our hopes for next year are very high.

“Definitely the mood of the team is completely different.”

The double World Champion was speaking ahead of his Daytona run, which he reckons is great preparation for the upcoming F1 season.

“It’s a way of preparing yourself,” he said.

“I’m used to spending January and February preparing physically for the season, doing training camps … training the neck with weights, with elastics.

“Now I have the opportunity to train those muscles and to get into the racing spirit in the car and racing some of the best racers in the world. It’s a nice preparation and nice warm-up of the season in F1.”

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