Alonso untroubled by rookie Vandoorne

Team mates have come and gone for Fernando Alonso who does not sees rookie Stoffel Vandoorne as a major threat... at least not yet.

The last time Alonso was paired with a F1 debutante was in 2007 when the man on the other side of the McLaren garage was none other than Lewis Hamilton, a relationship which did not work out too well for the Spaniard back then.

But the two-time world champion very much doubts that history could repeat itself.

"He (Vandoorne) is not a driver to fight for the title against me now, because our goal is something else," Alonso said.

" We must fight but also work together and help the team to make this difficult period as short as possible."

• Vandoorne doubts McLaren win potential in 2017

Alonso insisted however that the situation took nothing away from Vandoorne's genuine talent.

"He is a very good driver, he brings fresh air, he's very talented as he demonstrated in GP2 and in Japan last year.

"I remember when I went back to Renault I had Piquet. Then came Grosjean who was also going to be very fast and was not.

"The same happened  at Ferrari with Felipe (Massa): he was at Ferrari for many years and he was not faster. Then Kimi (Raikkonen), who everyone said is a world champion but he was not faster.

"So let's see what happens now. I'm not worried, I'm not afraid," said Alonso.

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