Fernando Alonso believes McLaren-Mercedes are going to be competitive in 2011 Formula 1 season
Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso believes that McLaren-Mercedes are going to be competitive in the 2011 Formula 1 season despite the problems they are facing with their new car, MP4-26.
McLaren are currently struggling with their new car in terms of reliability despite having a lot of pace. The team was unable to test its new car as much as the rest of the teams during the pre-season test session and as a result, they were unable to improve
it and resolve its problems.
Fernando Alonso on the other hand believes that McLaren’s new car is better than it looks and the pre-season test sessions do not explain anything regarding a team’s performance in the upcoming season.
“They're better than they look. Winter testing doesn't explain anything. They say themselves that they are expecting a little more, so perhaps they will be at a similar level to the best [in Australia] and then go on ahead. When we get there, we'll see,”
Fernando told the media.
He added that McLaren are going to challenge for the podiums in the new season and are going to be one of the top running teams of the sport again.
Other than that, Alonso also spoke about the tyre degradation issue of Pirelli and said braking was his main concern.
“Before [with Bridgestone], you would come to the end of the straight and step on the brake with all your strength. Now if you do that, you block the wheels, especially the rears. The traction is also worse. Before you would step on the accelerator quickly
out of a corner, but now it's more measured,” he said.
The 2011 Formula 1 season promises to be an interesting one especially with the introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System and adjustable rear wings. The new lone tyre suppliers of the sport, Pirelli are also expected to be a topic of debates throughout
the year.
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