'Happy' Alonso stays cool on McLaren form

Alonso has been quickest on the first two days of this week's major test at Valencia in Spain, leaving his rivals in no doubt that he and McLaren will be a major force this season.

But despite the good start, Alonso insists that progress with the new car is still at an early stage and that there is plenty of work ahead.

"We can be very happy," said Alonso about his early feelings with the new car. "It has gone well for the moment, so you have to be happy.

"But things change from one day to the other. Any problems and worries can return, so we have to keep cool and keep working hard."

Alonso believes that McLaren's early form may be the result of the team adapting to the new Bridgestone tyres better than their rivals.

"They (the new tyres) are very difficult to drive," he explained. "All the teams are having problems driving them, but it seems McLaren have adapted much more quickly than others. That seems to play to our benefit."

And although he has topped the timesheets on both days of the test so far, Alonso says he is actually more encouraged by the reliability of the car than its speed.

The only minor issue has been an oil leak on the first day, with another stop on the track being simply the result of a radio miscommunication rather than a technical issue.

"Until we do a race condition, the speed is the same for everyone really. But it is the reliability that we cross our fingers for. It has been good so far.

"The issues we had before are no longer issues, which is a good sign. But whatever is wrong it is better to have problems now than in Australia."