Alonso keen for on-track battles in Sochi

Fernando Alonso believes McLaren should be able to be competitive enough to "have some good battles" at the Russian Grand Prix.

Having made it through to Q2 at Suzuka, Alonso was unable to defend position effectively during the race as he complained he was being powered by a "GP2 engine". Heading to Sochi, Alonso is wary there are sections of the circuit which will hurt McLaren but he is hopeful of being able to put up a stronger fight on track.

“Suzuka was clearly a challenging race for us, but the support of the fans was incredible and we were still able to take some positives from it," Alonso said. "We’re working hard on reliability and it was encouraging that we didn’t have any issues with the car all weekend.

“Sochi is a great track and the street circuit layout and tight, precise corners make it really enjoyable to drive. The two straights are long and high-speed which means it won’t be easy for us, but our car is very well balanced, so I hope we can have some good battles and make some good progress on track this weekend.”

Honda motorsport boss Yasuhisa Arai admits the Sochi Autodrom will provide a difficult test for the power unit.

"Sochi will be a completely new track for Honda so it will surely be an exciting challenge as we are starting from scratch regarding data settings," Arai said.

“It is a very unique and modern track, where cars can race side by side for the first half of the lap, then close in with tricky 90-degree slow- to mid-speed corners and intense straights for the latter half.

"This type of track layout is likely to be demanding on our power units, but as usual the team will work hard to get the best out of the overall package. It will be interesting to see what we can learn from this weekend."