Alonso clings to hopes of improvement before Australia

Despite a final day of running in Barcelona marked by more gloomy reliability issues, Fernando Alonso is holding on to hopes of improvement at McLaren-Honda before the team sets foot in Australia.

The Woking-based outfit launched its 2017 campaign in fanfare with a change of color and denomination, and a rekindled motivation.

But it's performance on the race track in Barcelona was nothing but disappointment, with frustration and doubt now permeating through the team, starting with its star driver FernandoAlosno.

Hope isn't a strategy but Alonso is holding on to his wishful thinking, believing resolutions can be applied between now and when the lights go green in Melbourne.

"It was a disappointing way to end the test, as we weren't able to make the most of the final day of running," Alonso lamented

"The morning started positively and we were working well through our programme, until the car lost power in the corner and shut off, so I had to park it.

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The team managed to send Alonso back out, but the MCL32 expired again after just a handful of laps which to further changes during the lunch break.

"I'm pleased we were able to get going again in the afternoon – we wanted to use all the track time we could – as every single lap we do is useful for our learning.

"It's clear we have a lot of preparation ahead of us to be ready in time for Melbourne. I know the team is working hard and we'll be able to find more answers once we get the car back to the factory.

"I'm hopeful we'll be able to make the next step we need to be ready for Australia."

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