Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

Alonso keen to continue momentum in Spain

Fernando Alonso says another step forward for McLaren in the Spanish Grand Prix will give it momentum for the upcoming races.

McLaren's progress has been clear since the start of the season, with Jenson Button finishing the Australian Grand Prix two laps down but Alonso just one place outside the points in Bahrain. The Spaniard is looking forward to his home race this weekend and says more improvements could be crucial with McLaren seeing the following round in Monaco as a big opportunity for a strong result.

“I’m incredibly happy to be heading back to Europe, to my home country and racing in front of the loyal Spanish fans," Alonso said. "We’ve taken some useful steps forward during the flyaway races and I’m looking forward to getting back in the car after the three-week break and continuing our push.

“We are seeing improvements race by race, and I want to ensure that we maintain this consistency throughout this weekend. It will be very difficult, as other teams will also have been working hard to develop their cars too, but I’m hopeful that the start of the European season will be positive for us and allow us to carry momentum into the next few races.

“I really enjoy driving on this circuit – it’s high-speed and really tests the balance of the car, so we’ll be working to get that right as soon as we get out on track. There’s a huge amount of positivity in the team and all of us are working hard for better results in each race. Although we won’t be fighting for victory in Barcelona, I know I can count on the support of the fans to bring even more motivation during the whole weekend, which will be very special.”

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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.