Alonso: McLaren has caught Renault, Haas 

Fernando Alonso believes McLaren has caught up with midfield Formula One rivals Renault and Haas and can fight both teams, despite finishing behind them in the Spanish Grand Prix. 

The introduction of a revised aerodynamic package in Barcelona bolstered the Woking-based squad as Alonso made the Q3 top 10 shoot-out for the first time this season, with the Spaniard ultimately qualifying eighth. 

He went on to take eighth to extend his points-scoring run to five consecutive races, though he was beaten by Renault’s Carlos Sainz and finished over 30 seconds behind the Haas of Kevin Magnussen. 

McLaren also slipped one point behind Renault in the battle for fourth in the constructors’ championship but Alonso insists McLaren is now in a position to lead the midfield fight behind F1’s leading three teams Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull. 

“We knew that the upgrades would put us in a better position in the midfield pack,” Alonso said. “We did a good step here. We were eight tenths behind Renault in Baku, nine tenths behind them in China and here we were quite the same in qualifying and the race. 

“I think we catch up with Renault and Haas as well but the top three teams keep developing the car at the same rate that we do and keep that gap unfortunately. 

“We did a step forward but we know its going to be a big battle until the end and its important to score points.”

Despite McLaren’s major update for Spain, Alonso insists the team still has work to do in order to address its straight-line speed deficiencies, having spent much of the race squabbling with Charles Leclerc’s Sauber.

“I was half of the race behind Leclerc and it definitely was difficult. We still lack some straight line speed to be able to overtake so it’s something that we are working on. We know our weakness on the car and hopefully we will find some solutions soon.”