The auto was not competitive at all and things were getting more and more sad.
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“After five years in Ferrari and being second all the time, I think it was enough for me”.
“Probably, yes”, Alonso told CNN when asked if he should have left Ferrari sooner.
Jenson Button says he is taking heart from the “positive comments” being made about much vaunted upgraded Honda power unit, despite knowing he will be starting from the back of the grid for the Belgian Grand Prix.
And yet, when he won the crown in 2005 and 2006, so much was expected.
Finishing fifth and ninth in the following two seasons, he left for Maranello and was runner-up to Sebastian Vettel in his first year at the “Prancing Horse”.
Button added with an ironic smile: “I have heard that the starts are really complicated now – we have to think for ourselves and I’m scared about that”.
“Last year, I realised that with the Mercedes domination it was not possible to win in the short term for Ferrari and a new project was the best idea”.
“McLaren was a risky project because they were completely new, but we are one team – we win and we lose together”.
“It does not matter whether we were gassed or not, we are all here safe and well, and that is the most important thing, but it is fantastic that we did not realise what was happening”.
Despite a year of problems and penalties, Alonso has managed to score points twice for McLaren but for him, the focus is more on 2016 than this season as the team build for the future.
His 2005 triumph ended the dominance German driver Michael Schumacher, who had won five consecutive titles with Ferrari.
The 2009 world champion also revealed that he had taken solace in the outpouring of sympathy the Buttons have received across social media.
McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has suggested that the team could endure another tough weekend at the Belgian Grand Prix. The total penalties Button and Alonso will take should become clear once the cars run in first practice on Friday.
“A lot of people go through frightful experiences in life and it is definitely not one that I would wish upon anyone”.
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“There will be more changes next year as the FIA has issued a technical directive that states engineers will not be able to coach the drivers over the radio on things like tyre degradation and fuel saving”.
