Alonso names McLaren’s next target

Fernando Alonso has pinpointed McLaren reaching Red Bull’s level of performance as the team's next target after an impressive debut with Renault power in Australia.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion equalled his best race result since the 2016 United States Grand Prix with fifth place in the 2018 opening race the Australian Grand Prix to overdeliver on his initial expectations on results for the new-look McLaren-Renault partnership.

Alonso was able to keep ahead of Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after the Dutch driver conceded fifth place to the Spanish driver having been judged to have unfairly taken the place during the safety car period.

Having beaten one of the Red Bulls on track, Alonso says finishing in front their fellow Renault-powered rivals on a frequent basis is McLaren’s next goal as it looks to climb back up the grid from its disastrous three years with Honda.

“I think our race pace was more or less what we had expected, we’re faster in race pace than in qualifying, but here we cannot get everything out of the car because we’re still lacking some parts,” Alonso said after the Australian race.

“I believe we are at the lowest point of our curve, there’s a lot of things we really have to improve, we need to bring the updates for the next couple of races to be close to Red Bull as soon as possible.

“There’s a lot of potential in the car still to be unlocked. It’s the first race with this combination, McLaren-Renault, so a lot more to come. I’m hopeful in Bahrain for another step forward and Red Bull will be the next target.”

After the announcement of McLaren’s new Renault engine deal Alonso initially predict the Woking-based team could be able to fight for F1 race wins having seen Red Bull clinch three victories in 2017 with customer Renault power units.