Alonso sets specific target for Melbourne curtain-raiser

McLaren's Fernando Alonso is setting himself an ambitious target for this weekend's opening round of the F1 world championship.

As his team enters a new chapter of its history with new engine partner Renault and seeks a resurgence after three dismal years of under-performance, Alonso simply wants to be the best of the rest behind the unassailable Mercedes- Ferrari- Red Bull trio.

"Well, I think we should be optimistic," said the two-time world champion.

"I think we had some reliability issues in testing but all of them are fixed now and the team did an amazing job in the past two or three weeks to have the car 100 percent for Australia.

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"I think being in the points, being close to the top five, I think that will be the best thing we can do to start the season," he added.

"We need this good result to motivate the team and to keep working for the rest of the season."

Looking ahead, further down the road, Alonso insists McLaren should target a fourth-place finish in the Constructors' championship.

"I think top four is definitely a target for us and we know that Mercedes is a little bit ahead of everyone and is dominating the sport for the last four years," added Alonso.

"And they are the big favourites again to start the new season. But then we have Red Bull, we have Ferrari and definitely McLaren has to be the next team on that order."

Expressing perhaps a more realistic view, the Spaniard believes Melbourne should be McLaren's low point from which it should build its momentum as the season gathers pace.

"This weekend will be our lowest level," said Alonso.

"We will be the team that will progress [best] compared relative to other teams, just because the integration to a new power unit will require time.

"The chassis has been designed and the season programmed with many updates that will come very soon, in the first couple of races.

"What we see here is going to be important, yes, but we will be better and better. I expect the second half of the season, for example, a very strong McLaren," he added.

"I understand that we are not at the level of Mercedes now or the level of Red Bull or Ferrari - or that’s what we think after winter testing - so we are not in that leading group yet.

"But we should be there in a couple of races time or in the second part of the championship or something, because we are McLaren, so we should be there."

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