Earlier this week Fernando Alonso said Melbourne would likely be the low point for McLaren. Should that prediction hold true, the Woking-based outfit is heading towards a spectacular resurgence.
At the very minimum, the Spaniard delivered an encouraging inaugural race for McLaren and its new engine partner Renault.
Alonso capitalised on the consistent race pace of his MCL33, but also gained a significant benefit from the retirement of the preceding Haas duo half-way through the race and the subsequent deployment of the VSC.
Regardless, it was solid drive for the 36-year-old and one which likely went a long way towards satisfying the driver's and McLaren's numerous fans.
"It was a good race today, especially considering where we started," Alonso said.
"The last couple of years have been difficult, and I think the winter has been difficult as well.
"We switched to the Renault engine quite late and the team had to react very quickly to redesign some of the parts at the rear end, and now we’ve come here and both cars have scored points – one in the top five.
“We should be proud of that, but I think there’s a lot more to come from McLaren. We didn’t maximise the full potential nor squeeze everything out of the package today. "
Looking ahead, Alonso sees more of the MCL33's potential unlocked in the future as development comes into play.
"This is only our first race together with Renault, and some updates will come in the next few races. We can start to look ahead a little bit and Red Bull will be the next target," he said.
"As I said before, this race is probably our lowest performance of this season as things are going to get better and better.
"Obviously, today we got lucky with the two Haas cars retiring, Carlos’ [Sainz] problem in turn nine, and then overtaking [Max] Verstappen under the Safety Car," he admitted.
"Let’s say four positions came thanks to some favourable conditions, but we made no mistakes and we capitalised on everything. A perfect job from the team."
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