'Anything can happen in Austin', says Alonso

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McLaren wants to cast aside a pointless outing in Japan and hopes for a more constructive time in the United States Grand Prix this weekend.

Both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne finished outside the point in the previous race.

"After a couple of frustrating races where we haven’t been able to show the improving pace we know we have in our package, I’m excited to head back to the United States," said Fernando Alonso.

"I had a great time over summer there this year with everything going on around the Indy 500," he noted.

The two-time world champion described the Circuit of the Americas as "a really fun track to race on."

"COTA is also wider than a lot of the circuits we’ve been to recently," he added. "There are usually some good chances to overtake, which hopefully we can make the most of on Sunday.

"I hope in Austin we can build on the momentum we know we’ve been gathering behind the scenes," he said. "I think there’s the potential to score points if we can pull everything together.

"Anything can happen at this race," he insisted. "Wwe’ve seen quite a lot of drama both on-track and off it over the last few years

"I’m optimistic we can have a positive weekend if we can maximise every opportunity."

Alonso not appreciated by all at Honda - Hasegawa

For Vandoorne, this weekend will be a brand new experience. It's the Belgian driver's first time racing on the purpose-built Austin track.

"I’m really looking forward to this double-header in the USA and Mexico and discovering two new tracks that I’ve never experienced before.

"I’ve heard a lot of good things about COTA," he said. "Going to a new track doesn’t make me any more nervous than going to a circuit I’ve raced on before. The opposite, actually.

"I’ve never driven on this track in the real world. But I’ve done many laps in the virtual world in our simulator, so I’m keen to get going with set-up work straight away on Friday.

"Austin should be a bit better for us in terms of power sensitivity [than Suzuka," he noted. There should be more overtaking opportunities there too and I’m hopeful we can have a more positive weekend.”

That optimistic outlook for the weekend was endorsed by Honda chief Yusuke Hasegawa.

“We think this track suits our package and gives us the best chance out of the remaining four rounds," he said.

"McLaren Honda had a good race here last year with a double-points finish, and we hope we can do the same and cross the line inside the top ten."

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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.