Fernando Alonso believes McLaren is moving in the right direction with their car and drivers after his support in pre-season testing.
The Spaniard was on site at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya to assist during the second week as part of his new ambassadorial role, which will also see him drive the MCL34 later this year.
And having spent the previous four years suffering during McLaren’s slump in performance, his optimism that the team can make progress remains strong.
“I think we are learning a lot,” the double world champion said of his experience last week.
“Even during the first week I was in contact with the team and I was aware of the debriefs and all the small problems and issues that we were finding.
“I think this week we confirmed the picture of the car so I think there are a couple of areas they need to revise and they need to keep developing to improve the performance.
“Some others are surprisingly good so they are happy with the results and generally I think it has been a very positive two weeks. It is not perfect yet but the direction is the right one.”
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The idea of 2019 signalling a new dawn for McLaren was something Alonso looked to emphasise as he was asked about the Carlos Sainz/Lando Norris partnership.
“I think it’s a good combination of drivers and a good fit for the team as well because a lot of the team is new and young and coming from different teams as well,” Fernando claimed.
“It’s a very good integration with a fresh approach and I think Carlos has probably more experience than Lando for sure with years in Formula 1.
“Lando has some natural talent but needs to be refined and with experience, he will become stronger and stronger after the first Grand Prix.”
The main challenge McLaren faces with their all-new line-up, however, ensuring everyone is reading from the same page.
“I think they are both well prepared and it’s more to make sure that what they feel and what they drive on track is well understood by the engineers because sometimes the drivers will speak one language and the engineers they understand differently,” Alonso explained.
“Otherwise the engineers will see lines on the data and they suggest set up changes that as drivers maybe we are not asking for. I think that clarification is probably the biggest thing I can play especially with them that they are very new to the team.”
