Fernando Alonso is optimistic that McLaren can capture a strong result at the United States Grand Prix, though described lost track time in FP1 as “painful”.
Alonso finished seventh overall during Friday practice at the Circuit of the Americas, leading the midfield charge, and expects McLaren to figure in contention for the Q3 grid spots.
However, the Spaniard was left to rue a hydraulics issue during the opening practice session, which restricted him to four laps, and dealt the team a setback in evaluating new parts.
“We lost the first session because of an hydraulic issue, which was quite painful because we had several items to test, including for next year,” he said.
“We tried to catch up in the second session but it was difficult, so I think we’ll try them again in Mexico.
“I believe there’s still quite a bit to get out of the car – still some tenths to find, which I think probably everyone will find.
“We know [Max] Verstappen and [Nico] Hülkenberg have penalties, so if we manage to get into Q3, we’ll be able to start from an even better position.
“But if we don’t make it into Q3, and we can start eighth or ninth on new tyres, it could be very good too.”
Stoffel Vandoorne, who faces a five-place grid drop due to taking on a new Internal Combustion Engine, believes his race pace is stronger than his 15th-best time in practice suggested.
“We struggled during the session with some traffic and I wasn’t 100 per cent happy with the car balance, but the long-run pace looked reasonable – I was a bit happier with our long-run pace than qualifying set-up,” he said.
“All in all, we have a lot of margin to improve, but we know what we have to do and hopefully we should be lot closer.”
