Fernando Alonso says he does not regret leaving Ferrari for McLaren despite his former team enjoying a resurgence in form at the first round of the season while McLaren struggled.
Alonso did not race in Australia due to injury and his car failed to start the race in Kevin Magnussen’s hands as it broke down on the way to the pits. Team mate Jenson Button finished 11th and was the last driver running.
Meanwhile Alonso’s replacement at Ferrari Sebastian Vettel took a podium finish on his debut.
“Obviously with the performance we have right now it’s easy to criticise our team and my decision or whatever,” said Alonso when asked whether his move from Ferrari last year had been ill-timed.
“But as I said I’m first so, so happy and this is the most important. When you are happy with yourself you are a healthy man inside that is the first victory. And it’s what I am now because I’m following my dream now.
“And secondly, I could wait and achieve some nice results like you said, probably, yes. But after 14 years of Formula One and two championships, a podium or a fourth place or fifth place is not any more a nice result.”
Alonso admitted it had felt strange to watch the first race of the season on television while he recuperated from his testing crash.
“I think I didn’t pick up the best race, probably, to watch,” he said.
“One, it was very early in the morning so it didn’t help the enthusiasm about the race. And secondly the number of cars obviously was not ideal on the grid and also after the first couple of laps.
“It was a strange feeling, no doubt, I missed being there, I missed driving and it was strange but luckily I’m here.”
Nase (@)
26th March 2015, 10:14
“I think I didn’t pick up the best race, probably, to watch,”
That made me chuckle.
zoom (@zoomracing)
26th March 2015, 10:23
He handled the press conference very well, glad to have the top dog back, sadly in a slow car.
lee1
26th March 2015, 11:58
It is not a slow car though is it. It is a car with a few teething problems. Bearing in mind they were running at around 60% power I would say that car looks very quick.
Marciare_o_Marcire (@marciare-o-marcire)
26th March 2015, 12:51
60% seems a bit low to me. Where did you read this?
grat
26th March 2015, 13:17
60% is the rumored level the car was running– although with ERS and the ICE, either or both could have been detuned, and no one outside of McLaren / Honda really knows.
Still, it’s obvious the car was heavily detuned, but the times lap-to-lap were very consistent, and showed similar tire degradation to the Mercedes– which is promising.
F1Sidewinda (@f1sidewinda)
26th March 2015, 13:51
More speed = more degradation.
If the Mclaren is on rough par with the Mercedes now, once the wick is turned up the deg will increase. That Mclaren would have to theoretically be able to do a whole race on 1 set to be able to bridge that “4 seconds a lap” difference and have good deg.
I’m sorry but I think anyone who thinks the Mclaren will challenge for more than the lowest points in a “normal” race this season, will be sadly disappointed.
medman (@medman)
26th March 2015, 17:34
The real problem is the Mercs up front were running about 70 percent.
sonia luff (@sonia54)
26th March 2015, 17:13
Actually they ran at 40% in Australia. It was quoted on Sky during the race
mark p
26th March 2015, 20:57
Teething trouble or whatever at this point in time it is slow. It cannot race within 3 or 4 seconds of the leading cars. Teething trouble equals slow. There is no hard evidence only gut feelings that the car is quick. For now it is slow.
60 percent power whatever that would be is its max power to finish a race. When they show quick laps over a weekend and finish in the top few cars then we can say its quick. To say anything else is to put into words the dreams of McLaren fans. Surely they can get past the midfield sooner rather than later but for me it’s nice to see them struggle.
George
26th March 2015, 10:41
Yes ok…..
McL88AsAp (@deongunner)
26th March 2015, 11:31
He may not the best decision maker, but he often exceptional in the track even with crappy car.
U2F1 (@u2f1)
26th March 2015, 11:51
Don’t know how many here are Alonso fans .. this video give a good insight into life of a F1 driver over the race weekend and the personality that Fernando Alonso is :)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qxVEr-fXZ5s
watch the second part as well
Oletros (@oletros)
26th March 2015, 12:23
No, please, hagiographies from Lobato no.
They do more harm to Alonso than good
Ron (@rcorporon)
26th March 2015, 12:40
What else would / could he say at this point?
“Yeah, I really wish that I hadn’t left and my new car is crap.”
BigAlex
26th March 2015, 13:38
Alonso is such a good driver, hope Mclaren give him a good car soon.
Fer no.65 (@fer-no65)
26th March 2015, 13:41
It’s easy to judge but I think that, above all, he needed a change just as much as Seb needed it. Someitimes it goes beyond to what your team does once you leave.
Maksutov (@maksutov)
26th March 2015, 14:02
Then im afraid you could be waiting another 14 until Honda catch-up.
David Not Coulthard (@davidnotcoulthard)
26th March 2015, 17:29
He must’ve been thinking “I won my Ferrari debut and look at where I am!”
Roger Camp (@rogercamp)
26th March 2015, 18:15
He looks depressed on that photo. Perhaps he is.
Louis
26th March 2015, 23:01
that’s an old photo from previous year, see he’s wearing the Ferrari shirt.
Jay Menon (@jaymenon10)
27th March 2015, 0:20
Alonso is in a situation where he’s had to take 1 step back to make to two steps forward. What else could he have done? Stay at Ferrari and pick up 3rd places? Ferrari might take years to become a dominant force, then again so could Mclaren. Consider this though, all the gains that Ferrari are showing this year are fruits of the work done last year. Fernando would have seen the the potential of the car and the PU, but obviously that wasnt enough to keep him there…so you cant really say the he is surprised by where Ferrari is.
If I was in his shoes, I would have left as well. 5 years of disappointment takes a toll on anyone, and keeping one’s self motivated would have been challenging. With all the chopping and changing at Ferrari, it will take a while for the team to become the cohesive powerhouse (if ever) that it once was, and they’ve got development challenges ahead of them as well. Whereas Mclaren’s structure has bedded in already and Honda will throw enough resources at problems.
Frankly, Mclaren was the only choice he had. Mclaren will come good, and when it does, Fernando will win the title and will duly retire to WEC.