Fernando Alonso says that his McLaren F1 Team “worked perfectly” throughout the 2018 Bahrain Grand Prix but in terms of performance, the team must “up their game.”
Alonso failed to make Q3 in qualifying a lined up thirteenth on the grid. But some typical Alonso race-craft and the demise of both Aston Martin Red Bull Racing cars and Kimi Raikkonen‘s Scuderia Ferrari saw the Spaniard hold seventh to the finish.
“It was another great race today, with the team performing good pit-stops, good strategy and good reliability,” said Alonso. “Everyone worked perfectly today and we got both cars into the points.
“We did a good job at the start, overtaking a couple of cars. We had newer tyres compared to the people around us and we were expecting a bit more, but after that we had the pace to keep our position in the front train.”
“Looking at the overall picture of the weekend, we struggled in every session and had quite a poor qualifying, so now being seventh and eighth is a positive result for the team.”
Alonso’s result in Bahrain elevates him to fourth in the drivers’ championship while McLaren sit third in the constructors’ standings.
“Having 16 points after two races is promising, but at the same time we know that this weekend was not good enough in terms of performance, so we need to raise our game. We just cannot underperform again.
“We know that we have the potential, and that the car has some good things and bad things which we need to make sure we improve as soon as possible. New parts are coming, but whatever we have on the car on Sunday we’re sure we’ll deliver and push to the limits, and today was another good example.”
