Alonso says McLaren has to focus on reliability

40

With just seven races remaining until he departs Formula 1, two-time world champion Fernando Alonso would like to make it to the chequered flag on at least a few of those outings.

The McLaren driver failed to last the distance in the most recent two Grand Prix races since the summer shutdown, retiring at both Spa and Monza.

He also had premature exits in Monaco and Canada earlier in the season, and suffered late-race technical issues in France and Germany.

However every time that he has managed to complete a race in 2018, Alonso has finished in the points even when starting from disappointing grid positions.

Alonso admitted that the team had suffered "difficult races" in the last two outings, but insisted that it hadn't been without a silver lining.

"We were hoping to come away with points instead of two DNFs, but on the positive side we managed to find some pace on Sunday in Monza."

Alonso laments double-pain weekend and reliability woes

He was certainly hoping for a better performance by the team this weekend in Singapore.

“The important thing for us to focus on is reliability, especially since Marina Bay street circuit should be better for us and our package.

"We need to maximise our performance. Points are still definitely the target.

“The field is becoming very competitive as we progress through the season," he continued. "We know we need to work hard to maintain the pace of development compared to our competitors.

"I’m looking forward to racing under the lights in Singapore and it’s always a fantastic weekend of racing for the fans," he added.

McLaren's sporting director Gil de Ferran hinted that Singapore could bring out the best in Alonso.

"Racing under lights and in extreme temperatures and high humidity is a tough challenge for the drivers," he said. "It really shows you how hard they have to work behind the wheel to get a good result.

“This race has produced hugely entertaining race weekends in the past and I hope this year it will be no different.

"We are optimistic that our package should perform better on this type of track, but of course nothing is guaranteed, especially at a grand prix as unpredictable as this."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.