McLaren can 'forget' the mid-field and join the front - Alonso

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Fernando Alonso ambitions to see McLaren leave its mid-field rivals behind and join the battle at the front in the next couple of races.

Despite a disrupted two weeks of pre-season testing in Barcelona, McLaren achieved a good result in Melbourne in the opening round of the F1 world championship.

Alonso's fifth-place finish in Australia, although helped by Haas' double DNF, confirmed the potential for McLaren's long-awaited resurgence with the help of new engine partner Renault.

The Spaniard will be pushing on however, and sees no reason why he won't soon be snapping at the heels of F1's trio of front-runners, starting with Red Bull Racing.

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"Definitely it's going to be better and better," Alonso said. "There's a lot of potential in the car still to unlock.

"I think right now they're still clearly ahead of us, they're in that exclusive group of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

"But McLaren is willing to enter that group and I think in the next couple of races hopefully we forget the middle group and we look forward to [joining] that privileged three top teams.

"There is potential in the car, I cannot see any reason why we should not be there in the next coming races."

Alonso assessed his team's performance in Melbourne in the context of McLaren's late switch to Renault power, and the progress that remains to be achieved in terms of integration with its power unit partner.

"We cannot forget that we decide to switch engines very late in the season so we had to redesign some of the parts that we already made at the rear end of the car," Alonso said.

"I think the integration between McLaren and Renault still not at hundred percent, and in the next coming races we'll see more and more potential."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.