Alonso hopeful of Renault improvement
Fernando Alonso is hopeful his Renault team will be able to improve their form following their slow start to the 2008 season
Although the two-time champion finished in fourth place in the chaotic season opener in Australia, he could only manage eighth position in Malaysia, where Ferrari's Felipe Massa was the only retirement from a top team.
Now the Spaniard is relying on Renault taking a bigger step forward that their rivals in order to close the gap to the front.
"We have some good things coming and we are quite optimistic with an improvement of the car, but at the same time, we all know that all the teams will have a similar feeling now," Alonso told reporters in Bahrain.
"All the teams will be optimistic about their improvements, so it is up to us to make the improvements that we hope for on the track.
"Because sometimes you feel you have a good step forward and then you put it on the car and it feels more-or-less the same. Hopefully for us, we will feel the difference straight away."
Alonso, who won four races with McLaren last season, insisted he was prepared for a difficult season following Renault's struggles in 2007.
But the Renault driver admitted he was hoping the French squad would be stronger by now.
He is nonetheless optimistic that his team can still get closer to the front during the season.
"I knew more or less when I signed for Renault because I knew that the gap was too big to recover all this distance in one winter," he added. "I knew that 2008 would be a difficult season, one that we needed to keep improving through to be as close as we can to the top teams.
"But at the same time you always hope that maybe things will change and, maybe not fight for the championship, but maybe be on the podium or maybe win one or two races or whatever.
"It seems that at the moment we are not in that position, so it is a mix of feelings. In a way I knew already it was difficult, but in another way I was hoping for maybe something more.
"So it is time to work now and hopefully in the middle of the season, or maybe after Barcelona if the improvements are good enough, fight closer to the podium."
Share Or Save This Story
Brundle awarded OBE in King’s New Year’s honours
The new rules dilemma that will define the 2025 F1 season
Jon Noble: An unfair perception or a genuine concern? Lifting the lid on Red Bull’s Tsunoda scepticism
Alonso explains how the impact of Aston Martin’s upgrades go further than Hungarian GP qualifying breakthrough
Alonso delivers first verdict on Aston Martin F1 car upgrades
Aston Martin's Hungarian GP upgrade is big – but not as big as F1 insiders expected it to be
You Ask The Questions: Robert Kubica
Eight shock Formula 1 team principal changes
The key moments in Renault's F1 history as it bids farewell
Malaysia will officially host F1's 2026 Bahrain GP
Why Hungarian GP pole position was an ‘overachievement" for Norris – and Ferrari still has a better car
How much time has Aston Martin gained with its F1 Hungarian GP update?
Antonelli hit with grid drop for yellow flag infringement in F1 Hungarian GP qualifying
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
Top Comments