Alonso takes a swipe at negative media

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Fernando Alonso isn't denying McLaren's lackluster form, but the Spaniard believes the media's negative spin on events of late has led to an exaggeration of its state of affairs.

There was no place to hide for McLaren last week in France, after reports of a staff revolt and 'toxic' working atmosphere at Woking were followed by the team's dismal performance out on the race track at Paul Ricard.

However, Alonso took aim at the media on Thursday in Austria, insisting McLaren plight was no where as bad as reported.

"A weekend like that, the only problem is the media attention it attracts and the lack of normal conversation goes into the bad news or good news, and everything is exaggerated, especially in Formula One with all the polemics and all the things you need to sell every week," he said.

"We had a quite poor weekend in terms of performance; uncompetitive on Friday, uncompetitive on Saturday, uncompetitive on Sunday," he admitted.

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"We are the first ones to know that, and we want to improve that. At the same time, we are not last. We are not getting worse and worse. We are not the worst team in the paddock. We are not these things that we've been hearing for the last three days.

"We are fifth in the Constructors' Championship, and I'm eighth in the drivers' championship," added the Spaniard, who endlessly sees the glass as half full.

"All the other ones that are doing a perfect season, they are behind us, so maybe they are not so perfect and we are not so bad.

"We understand we have been uncompetitive, and we are the first ones that we want to improve that."

When reminded about McLaren's claim last year stating it had the best chassis in the field and that it would have been battling at the front with any other engine than the Honda, a touchy Alonso drew up a relative compare between the team's performance in 2017 and this season, underlining its progress.

"We had zero points last season, and now we have fifth in the Constructors' Championship and eighth in the drivers' championship," he argued.

"So again, the situation changed a lot and improved a lot. We are not where we want to be, and we want to improve.

"We want to fight for podiums, we want to fight for championships," he insisted.

"We were thinking this year could be that transition to be close to the podiums and close to the Red Bull performance and we are not. We realise that, and we accept that we need to improve.

"If this was the season to improve, yes, it was, and we did improve massively. 400 or 500 percent more points than last year, so we are doing what we can."

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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.