Fernando Alonso expects the start of the European season will see McLaren start to secure notably improved results.

McLaren has struggled for both performance and reliability during the opening four races as it works with Honda to improve its power unit. Racing director Eric Boullier says there will be a new specification of engine in Barcelona and Alonso believes the motivation inside the team - coupled with tracks which could suit the car - should see a clear step forward in Europe.

“[The team] is growing up and I think we are all committed to this project and committed to this comeback,” Alonso said. “This is the best thing, all the team is united, it’s easy to panic in these tough moments and to stress but it’s the opposite. It’s creating a huge motivation in everybody and hopefully we can use it in a good manner and in Barcelona we can see the first step.

“Also in Monaco the power effect is low so we could have a good race also there. So I think the next two or three races are going to be interesting for us.”

Elaborating on the importance of the coming rounds, Alonso believes they could offer the chance for stronger results for McLaren.

“Big races now ahead of us. The Spanish Grand Prix obviously for me is my home grand prix, there’s always less power effect in Monaco so we could perform better there so we have to be focused, united now and I think the good results are coming.”

Click here for a more light-hearted look at the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend 

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.

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