Fernando Alonso expects McLaren-Honda’s poor form to extend into next weekend’s Italian Grand Prix, after experiencing a “painful” outing at Spa.

Despite Honda bringing a major power unit upgrade to Belgium, the British squad still languished at the back of the field, with Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button toiling to 13th and 14th. The Spaniard had actually claimed it was “difficult” to judge the gains yielded by his new engine as early as free practice.

Although Alonso is inclined to revise his judgment on the extra speed at hand, the 34-year-old does not think this will be enough to fare much better at another power-sensitive track like Monza.

“There are minor steps these days in F1,” he said. “When you add some extra horsepower you feel a bit quicker, but when you are a long way back it is always not enough.

“We will put things right and hopefully be more competitive, but it is a slow process, unfortunately, and painful, but we are all together going through this time.

“Hopefully we can learn some things, but Monza will also be difficult, the same as Spa, because of the nature of the circuit.”

Having returned to McLaren after five years of efforts at Ferrari failed to yield the third world championship he has been seeking for a decade, Alonso insists his motivation is not waning in the face of hardship.

“There are two ways you can approach this: be optimistic and work together with the team to solve the situation as soon as possible, or be pessimistic and think it's not worth doing anything.

“I don't think the latter will be the exit of this tunnel. We will continue to work.

“Things are going better and better, it's just unfortunate that, as we saw in Spa and for Monza, we don't see much since these are power-affected circuits, but we are going in the right direction.”

Click here for a lighter look at the Belgian Grand Prix, courtesy of F1i special contributor Eric Silbermann.

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Horner: Max 'answered critics' with epic Sao Paulo GP drive

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner hailed Max Verstappen’s sensational Sao Paulo Grand Prix victory…

37 mins ago

Sainz left puzzled by double crash drama in rainy São Paulo

Carlos Sainz was left scratching his head after a disastrous Sunday at the Sao Paulo…

2 hours ago

Alonso pushed through agonizing pain to complete Sao Paulo GP

Fernando Alonso braved both physical agony and mechanical challenges in the Sao Paulo Grand Prix,…

3 hours ago

Alpine double-podium in Brazil could deliver $30 million windfall

Alpine’s remarkable double podium at the São Paulo Grand Prix with Esteban Ocon and Pierre…

18 hours ago

F1i's Driver Ratings for the 2024 São Paulo GP

Alexander Albon, Williams (Did Not Start): 5.5/10 Alex Albon is definitely going through something of…

19 hours ago

Jos Verstappen rips British media after Brazilian Max fest

Jos Verstappen wasted no time after his son spectacular win at the São Paulo Grand…

21 hours ago