Fernando Alonso says McLaren-Honda “cannot expect” to be the fourth fastest team again at this weekend’s German Grand Prix, after a strong showing in Hungary last Sunday.
The British team had one of its stronger weekends, performance-wise, in Budapest, with Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button constantly featuring in the top eight.
Although a brake sensor issue later followed by oil leak put paid to the 2009 world champion’s hopes, the Spaniard finished seventh to score his first points since Monaco.
However, Alonso admits the layout of Hockenheim is likely to make a repeat of such strong result difficult.
“It is quite a technical circuit which requires fairly high downforce, and although most of the corners are relatively low-speed, they come after long, power-hungry straights, so the set-up of both the power unit and chassis for both eventualities can be quite tricky,” the double world champion said.
“For this kind of circuit, you need a car with which you can push, and I feel we’re making improvements in that area.
“For sure it will be different to Hungary – we can’t expect to be the number four team there, and our midfield rivals will be stronger, but we’ll try to maximise everything we have in our armoury and give it our best shot.”
Alonso hopes his successful history at the Baden-Württemberg venue can help reward McLaren-Honda’s recovery efforts over the first part of the season.
“I’m pleased to be heading back to Hockenheim after we missed a race in Germany in 2015. It’s been a good circuit for me in the past – I’ve had three victories on this circuit, and five in Germany, so there’s lots of happy memories.
“The whole team has worked incredibly hard over the first half of the year, so it’ll be great to be able to have some luck and bring both cars home without any major issues.”
With 38 points after 11 races this year, McLaren-Honda has already surpassed its entire 27-point tally of 2015 and lies seventh in the Constructors' championship.
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