Fernando Alonso failed to make the Q3 cut in qualifying Saturday afternoon, but the results took nothing away from the confidence he has in the potential of McLaren's MCL33.
The Spaniard concluded Q2 eleventh, just one spot short of the final ten shootout, although he'll likely start tomorrow's race a position higher following Valtteri Bottas' expected demotion to the back of the grid after the Finn's Q3 heavy Q3 mishap.
Alonso sees his MCL33 as a work in progress, but is delighted with the basic level of the car's performance.
"I think we showed some performance in the free practice, especially this morning in the damp conditions," he said after qualifying.
"We have huge potential to unlock. You are always curious to know where you stand and I think we have been pretty fast, especially in FP3 in wet conditions we were very close to the top all the time.
"Then in Q1 and Q2 we were always between seventh and 12th and as a starting point that's great because we'll have a lot of updates from now and the integration we need to do.
"We are the only ones who have to do that - so we have 'free' upgrades that are going to make us a lot more competitive and so it was a relief to reach qualifying and see that it's going to be a good year."
The two-time world champion is determined to start tomorrow race with the bit between his teeth, happy to race in attack mode after three years of trying - often in vain - to limit damage on Sundays.
"We'll start 10th, I guess, because Bottas will be last, so I think it's a good starting point."
It's going to be a different race for us, more in attacking mode than only defend. It's going to be fun, especially if it rains tomorrow, that will be amazing also, so we'll see what happens."
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