Alonso not making any predictions for Melbourne

Fernando Alonso says McLaren-Honda “can’t make any predictions” as to where it stacks up against the competition ahead of the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

The Japanese manufacturer and British team are entering the second year of their reunited partnership on the wake of a much more productive winter. However, Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button still suffered some reliability issues in pre-season testing, while Honda admitted it was “not satisfied with engine power” yet.

Although the Spaniard expects reigning Constructors’ champions Mercedes and rivals Ferrari to be fighting at the front again, Alonso believes the early contours of the 2016 pecking order remains quite blurry at the moment.

“We can’t make any predictions of results or make comparisons as we don’t yet know much about the form book from winter testing,” the 2005 and ’06 world champion said. “The same teams look to be strong this year, but everyone is holding their cards very close to their chest, so it will be interesting to see how the weekend unfolds.

Alonso also believes the revised tyre regulations and introduction of a new elimination-style qualifying format add to the uncertainty in the build up to Melbourne’s curtain raiser.

“This year, it’ll be interesting to see how everyone’s tyre choices play out, and the strategy each team picks, but it’s only on Sunday afternoon that we’ll get to see where we really are.

“The new qualifying format will surely make things a bit unpredictable for the teams and the fans, as every time a new regulation comes in each season it always take a little bit of time to get used to it.”

This weekend’s race will be Alonso’s first Australian Grand Prix in two seasons after the 34-year-old had to miss last year’s event due to a concussion sustained in a winter testing crash. The Spaniard has won the event once, taking victory in the 2006 edition with Renault.

2016 F1 season: Chris Medland's Team-by-team preview

F1i Classic: Melbourne 2002 - Mark Webber's dream debut

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

Julien Billiotte

Recent Posts

Marko: ‘No chance at all’ for Red Bull in Las Vegas

Helmut Marko believes that Red Bull and Max Verstappen are unlikely to challenge for victory…

3 hours ago

GM revives bid to join F1 with accelerated talks for 2026 entry

Automotive giant General Motors is reportedly back in the game as a potential entrant in…

5 hours ago

Las Vegas GP: Thursday's action in pictures

The opening day of running at the Las Vegas GP was a smooth but chilly…

6 hours ago

Williams' headaches persist into Vegas practice

Williams is continuing to fight uphill battles this weekend in Las Vegas as a knock-on…

7 hours ago

Ferrari's Sainz 'not satisfied with where we are' in Vegas

It was a solid start to the Las Vegas weekend for Ferrari with Carlos Sainz…

9 hours ago

Norris labels McLaren long-run pace ‘shocking’ in chilly Vegas

Lando Norris didn’t hold back in his assessment of McLaren’s performance on the opening day…

10 hours ago