No improvement at 'last place' McLaren, says Alonso

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Fernando Alonso kicked off his 2017 with a disappointing retirement following a suspension failure while he was fighting for a points finish.

The Spanish drivers McLaren-Honda gained a spot at the start and held steady in the points until the mechanical failure doomed its race.

"A suspension failure I think at the end is what happened, and it stopped us finishing the race," explained Alonso.

"It was pretty good I think. I was driving one of my best races so far. We were surprisingly in the points all the race long.

"Also we had to do a huge fuel saving which was hurting us a lot but we were able to keep the position.

"As I said, a little surprised to be so [high] up but at the end we didn't finish and definitely we need to be more competitive very soon."

The fact that the two-time world champion was fighting for points before he retired took nothing away from his damning assessment of McLaren's current level of performance.

"I think we are last, that's the performance we have now," Alonso added.

"We were 10th because the qualifying lap we had yesterday was extremely good. The start I was lucky to gain one position and the Grosjean retirement gave us the second one.

" I think in normal conditions in the normal circuit we should be last or next to last."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.