'Alonso the most intelligent driver I've worked with,' says McLaren's Temple

McLaren-Honda race engineer Mark Temple says that Fernando Alonso's prime qualities are his intelligence and ability to always extract the most out of a racing car.

Temple praised the Spaniard's high-level capability of multi-tasking when behind the wheel, chasing the limit while always thinking about strategy.

"He’s the most intelligent driver I’ve worked with,” Mark Temple told McLaren's official website.

"Combine this intelligence with a supreme level of natural talent and you’re left with a very potent combination.

"It allows him to do so much else while driving the car. He processes a lot of data and he’s always thinking about strategy."

Temple also noted the two-time world champion's ability to remain aggressive while never over-driving the car.

"Fernando extracts the maximum from everything around him," he added.

"He drives it in a very aggressive manner. He really attacks the braking areas and throws the car into the corners, but he doesn’t lose out on corner exit.

"Often, if a driver’s aggressive on entry he loses out on exit, but Fernando manages to keep the car on the limit in both areas."

Like everyone at McLaren-Honda, Alonso is hoping the team's performance will finally move to the next level.

And the Spaniard has been training hard to bring his fitness up to the optimum physical level which will be required by the 2017 cars.

"Fernando's aerobic work in these past years has been good, but now there is more fitness, more weight, more strength needed," said Edoardo Bendinelli, the drivers' personal trainer.

"I can say that Fernando is in his best shape, stronger and more motivated than ever."

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