Fernando Alonso has retired from the past four Grand Prix and is still looking for his first points of the season after a troubled opening half of the Formula 1 season with McLaren-Honda.
The Spaniard and the rest of the team now arrive at Silverstone for the British Grand Prix, with Alonso feeling a little more optimistic after what he feels like were two positive test days at the Red Bull Ring last week.
“We go to Silverstone this week feeling optimistic after two good test days in Austria,” revealed Alonso. “We’ve been busy analysing all of the data which has been very useful to continue learning about our package and keep moving forward.
“It was very positive that we were able to pass the 100-lap mark on the second day, and we’re really motivated to keep pushing into the next couple of grand prix before the summer break.”
Alonso feels the team are likely to struggle at Silverstone due to the fast nature of the track, but has happy memories of past British Grand Prix, having won the race back in 2006 for Renault and 2011 for Ferrari. Despite knowing the likely struggles ahead, Alonso is still looking to make the most of the weekend as the team look to continue to understand the MP4/30.
“Silverstone is a very special race for the team, of course, and also a fantastic circuit to drive,” added Alonso. “It’s one of the fastest on the calendar, which also means it won’t be a circuit that will suit our car so well, but we’re still looking forward to the weekend and want to make the most of every session.
“The crash I had with Kimi in Austria was really unlucky, but we quickly put that behind us during testing and know that we’ll have some great support from the fans at the team’s home race.
“I love driving the Silverstone circuit; I’ve won there twice, in 2006 and 2011, so I have very good memories, and it’s a really exciting track for the drivers with the mix of high-speed and medium-speed corners. Plus, the unpredictable weather always provides an interesting gamble.
“We know this weekend will be challenging, but we’ll be pushing hard every session to put on the best show we can for the fans.”
