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"New McLaren will be sexier when it's fast", says Alonso

Fernando Alonso was sounding cautiously upbeat as he helped unveil the new McLaren contender for the forthcoming 2017 Formula One campaign.

Speaking after taking the covers off the new orange-and-black MCL32, the two-time world champion emphasised the progress that the team had made in the last year and pointed out that the new downforce and tyre regulation changes would give the team a crucial opportunity to make more progress this year.

“I think there’s a lot to admire about what we’ve achieved over the past 12 months," he said.

"Sure, the results haven’t really showcased it, but we’ve really made progress, and I think the whole team has gelled together through those difficult times.

"Now, at a moment of significant regulatory change, we need to capitalise on that period of uncertainty to push forwards – and I’m confident that we’ve got the expertise to do just that.

McLaren-Honda MCL32 revealed!

“What I’ve seen of the MCL32 appears to be really promising – the new regulations seem to be well thought-out, and the cars look fast and aggressive.

"The look of the car makes me really want to get in the cockpit – I’ve lost none of that all-important hunger every Formula 1 driver needs.

"It will be sexier when it's fast," he quipped at the official launch of the new car on Friday.

“We still think the start of the season will be a challenge – we can’t ignore the fact that we’re still coming from a significant step behind the current front-runners – but I’d like to think we can target the second half of the year as a time when we’ll really be able to start making useful performance steps.

"The aim is to look respectable this year," he added. "And I’d like to think we can achieve that.”

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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.