Alonso and Vandoorne 'getting along well' - so far

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McLaren F1 executive director Zak Brown says that his new driver pairing of Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne are getting along well at the moment - but he's aware that could all change as the season progresses.

Two-time world champion Alonso is beginning his third consecutive season with McLaren, while Stoffel Vandoorne - who made his Formula One début subbing for an unwell Alonso at least year's Bahrain Grand Prix - is coming into his maiden season with the team after taking over the full time race seat from Jenson Button.

"They get along very well. They're both kind of head-down, focussed on their own racing. I think they're going to work well together to drive the team forward," Brown explained to US motorsports correspondent Marshall Pruett this week.

"Stoffel is a very nature 24-year-old. I have no doubt he's going to push Fernando, which is going to be healthy for the team. I've seen that to be a very healthy relationship.

"I don't think that will change, but as we all know in motor racing most of the team mates get to each other - whether it's Senna and Prost or Rosberg and Hamilton, it becomes tricky.

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"While we all know team mates want to beat each other, they want to beat everyone else," he added. "I don't think either of them is the type who are going to be too excited about beating their team mate if they're eight or ninth.

"I think their primary agenda focus is about getting to the front of the field, and then worrying about each other.

"I'm looking forward to the competition between them and look forward to helping manage through some team rivalries which no doubt you'll have. We're just going to keep it healthy."

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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.