Asked again whether he would see the season out, Alonso replied: “Of course”.
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But after his first day in the auto, in which the MP4-31 proved its early reliability by racking up 119 laps, Alonso labelled speculation over his future “surprise rumours”.
Meanwhile, Alonso joked about rumors that he will stop any time soon if the vehicle is not competitive, saying that with the long winter break there was a “dangerous tendency of being creative with the news”.
Rosberg, who was fourth quickest on Tuesday having only used the medium-compound tyre, said it was obvious there is more to come from Mercedes.
“From the start of tomorrow’s testing, the second season of McLaren-Honda’s new adventure begins”.
He then told Spanish media: “I have a contract for three years. This is a very important year for us”.
Indeed the team’s chairman Ron Dennis even hinted that Alonso may consider a sabbatical from the sport if this year’s vehicle is not up to scratch.
“He was in the factory in the past week and was very pleased with what he saw of the auto”, said Boullier.
I think it’s good timing and the company decided well. By race five, race six, we were still discovering little things on the auto that were hurting us a lot in terms of performance. We did, and I’m proud of the team, proud of the auto.
“I need to check that website”, he smiled.
“We could not have any doubts because the starting point of the power and the deficit we had a year ago compared to the top teams, it was just too high”.
All comments that are posted on the beIN SPORTS website do not reflect beIN SPORTS opinion or vision. beIN SPORTS is not legally responsible for any inappropriate comments, users are exclusively responsible for comments they post and is described to be their personal opinion. I think on the aerodynamic side there are parts which are quite innovative and quite new, in our vehicle, at least. We need a little bit of time to mature the project, the package, and the power unit the same thing.
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When Alonso’s Honda engine failed in Brazilian Grand Prix practice past year, the Spaniard found a foldable chair and lay back trackside sunning himself with his feet resting on his helmet.
