Alonso will be happy if he can "taste champagne" again

Published on 17 Feb 2018 14:43

By: Fergal Walsh

Fernando Alonso admits that McLaren will be happy in 2017 if it can make frequent trips to the podium. The Woking-based team's last top-three finish was at the 2014 Australian Grand Prix, when Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button finished second and third respectively.

Since joining forces with Honda in 2015, McLaren has been left without a podium finish. However, towards the end of the 2017 season, it announced that it would be splitting from Honda and signed a multi-year deal with French manufacturer Renault.

But Alonso says it's difficult to assess where he and McLaren will find itself in the pecking order this year: "In terms of results, it is always going to be difficult to predict. This is Formula 1, it is not mathematical that you know in advance. Anything can happen. Even the favourite ones, the champions, Mercedes cannot guarantee that in 2018 they will be fastest.

"But we are quite optimistic, we know what Red Bull is doing with the Renault power unit, they are maybe not the fastest in qualifying but they are quite fast in the race. They’ve been on a couple of podiums, they won two or three races, so with those kinds of results I think we will be very happy. If we are in the fight and if we can taste the champagne again."

Now he thinks that McLaren is ready to return to the front after three years of disappointing results: "I think in the last three years we all changed here in the team. We all had some tough moments, we learned things, hard lessons sometimes because we had some painful retirements. The team now is ready to perform at the best.

"The biggest thing I learned in the last three years was the speed of the team, they never give up, they were very united, very constructive, working flat out to bring even half a tenth for the next race even if we were fighting for 16th. That spirit in the team was remarkable, its something that I will keep for the long term."

Fergal Walsh

JCF1

Posts: 27

The worst thing that could happen is for him to be on the podium when Ricciardo wins.

1
Feb 17 2018 - 20:09

F1 News Fernando Alonso Jenson Button Kevin Magnussen Renault Mercedes McLaren Honda

Replies (3)

calle.itw

Posts: 8,527
McLaren need more than Renault units, they need the Renault attitude. Talking about podiums the first year with a new power unit, with only one legit good chassis to your name these last 5 years and nowhere near Red Bull levels of fundings, doesnt really speak in favour of the hype the McLaren camp is trying to ramp up.
- + 0
- Feb 17 2018 - 18:08
JCF1

Posts: 27
The worst thing that could happen is for him to be on the podium when Ricciardo wins.
- + 1
- Feb 17 2018 - 20:09
- calle.itw
  
  Posts: 8,527
  Why?
  + 0
  
  Feb 17 2018 - 20:28

Total queries: 4
Total time: 0.13442516326904
time	sincestart	caller	annotate	bt	desc
	0.000464				instantiate query log (0Q - total module time: 0.00062680s)	""
	0.001097				boot (0Q - total module time: 0.00011301s)	""
	0.001213				translation-init (1Q - total module time: 0.00104690s)	""
0.00029588	0.001949	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Redirect.php:105(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Entities/Redirect.php:112(findByOrigin) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Redirects.php:108(getRedirectOrFalse) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:115(checkForDBRedirects) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT redirects.id, redirects.origin, redirects.referer FROM redirects WHERE redirects.origin = :origin ORDER BY id	{"origin":"\/en\/news\/f1\/236092\/alonso-will-be-happy-if-he-can-taste-champagne-again"}
	0.002263				controller::news/f1/236092/alonso-will-be-happy-if-he-can-taste-champagne-again (2Q - total module time: 0.10038209s)	""
0.00674605	0.002967	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:389(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:127(findNextArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId > :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId ASC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 08:15:00","articleId":236092,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
0.06391191	0.009750	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Statement.php:189(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/Article.php:318(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:128(findPrevArticle) {"function":"F1T\\Controllers\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\Controllers\\News","object":{"current_page":"news"},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:158(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Controllers/News.php:47(action_Index) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:269(dispatch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Router.php:195(_load) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:260(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT Articles.ArticleId AS ArticleId, Articles.RewriteUrl AS RewriteUrl, Articles.ArticleType as ArticleType, Articles.Category as Category, Articles.cntnlang AS cntnlang, RacingSeries.RewriteUrl AS RacingSeriesRewriteUrl FROM Articles INNER JOIN RacingSeries ON Articles.RacingSerieId = RacingSeries.RacingSerieId WHERE Articles.cntnlang = :siteLang AND Articles.SiteId = :siteId AND Articles.Activated = 1 AND Articles.PublishDate < :publishDate AND Articles.ArticleType IN (:param0, :param1, :param2) AND Articles.ArticleId < :articleId ORDER BY Articles.ArticleId DESC LIMIT 1	{"siteLang":"en","siteId":"1","publishDate":"2026-02-04 08:15:00","articleId":236092,":param0":"Nieuws",":param1":"LiveRaceReport",":param2":"Liveblog"}
	0.102649		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Result (0Q - total module time: 0.00040984s)	""
	0.103062		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Photos (0Q - total module time: 0.00013590s)	""
	0.103200		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Trending (0Q - total module time: 0.00011206s)	""
	0.103314		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Reply (1Q - total module time: 0.02735901s)	""
0.02209997	0.103816	/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php		/var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/dbal/lib/Doctrine/DBAL/Connection.php:1323(stopQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query/Exec/SingleSelectExecutor.php:31(executeQuery) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/Query.php:325(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1212(_doExecute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:1166(executeIgnoreQueryCache) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/doctrine/orm/lib/Doctrine/ORM/AbstractQuery.php:901(execute) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Repository/CommentVotes.php:192(getResult) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/CommentVotesManager.php:46(getCommentVotesByVoteIp) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Modules/News/Reply.php:101(getCommentVotesByIP) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:115(internalRender) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:89(captureOutput) {"function":"F1T\\{closure}","class":"F1T\\ModuleBase","object":{"_amp":false},"type":"->","args":[]} /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/Cache.php:144(call_user_func) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ModuleBase.php:92(lazyFetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigExtensions/ModuleRenderer.php:35(fetch) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:549(renderModule) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_mainContent) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:62(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:182(block_content) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:715(displayBlock) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:45(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php(418) : eval()'d code:46(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:405(doDisplay) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:378(displayWithErrorHandling) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Template.php:390(display) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/TemplateWrapper.php:45(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/vendor/twig/twig/src/Environment.php:318(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/Services/ViewRenderer/TwigRenderer.php:115(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:98(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/ViewTrait.php:79(renderViewFile) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/app/website.php:261(render) /var/www/dev-priyantha.gptoday.net/public_html/index.php:11(require_once)	SELECT c0_.CommentId AS CommentId_0, c1_.Vote AS Vote_1 FROM Comments c0_ INNER JOIN CommentVotes c1_ ON (c1_.CommentId = c0_.CommentId) WHERE c0_.ArticleId = ? AND c1_.VoteIp = ?	[236092,"216.73.216.130"]
	0.130677		cacheAble: no		module:Sidebar (0Q - total module time: 0.00036383s)	""
	0.131044				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00001192s)	""
	0.131057				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpschedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.131060		cacheAble: yes		module:GpSchedule (0Q - total module time: 0.00015903s)	""
	0.131221				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::results (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.131227		cacheAble: yes		module:Results (0Q - total module time: 0.00012302s)	""
	0.131352				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::testcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000310s)	""
	0.131356		cacheAble: yes		module:TestCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00010514s)	""
	0.131463				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.131468				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.131470				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::relatednews (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.131473		cacheAble: yes		module:RelatedNews (0Q - total module time: 0.00012493s)	""
	0.131602				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::whoischatting (0Q - total module time: 0.00000596s)	""
	0.131609				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000215s)	""
	0.131612				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.131613		cacheAble: no		module:Poll (0Q - total module time: 0.00161815s)	""
	0.133234				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.133239				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::ads (0Q - total module time: 0.00000119s)	""
	0.133242				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpcalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00000095s)	""
	0.133244		cacheAble: yes		module:GpCalendar (0Q - total module time: 0.00009704s)	""
	0.133343				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::driver_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000381s)	""
	0.133349		cacheAble: yes		module:Driver\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00009990s)	""
	0.133451				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::team_Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00000405s)	""
	0.133456		cacheAble: yes		module:Team\Info (0Q - total module time: 0.00009298s)	""
	0.133551				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::linkedKeywords (0Q - total module time: 0.00000501s)	""
	0.133557				sidebar:sidebar-news-read::gpsidebarnavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00000191s)	""
	0.133560		cacheAble: no		module:GpSidebarNavigation (0Q - total module time: 0.00036597s)	""
	0.133927		cacheAble: yes		module:Layout\Footer (0Q - total module time: 0.00009203s)	""
	0.134022		cacheAble: yes		module:News\Breaking (0Q - total module time: 0.00039816s)	""
	0.134423				done	""

Alonso will be happy if he can "taste champagne" again

JCF1

Trending news

Replies (3)

calle.itw

JCF1

calle.itw

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Race / Startgrid

Grand Prix of Belgium

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

Friday

Saturday

Sunday

World Championship standings 2023

Test calendar

Related news

Renault to be rebranded as Alpine F1 Team from 2021

Button couldn't understand why Ricciardo moved to Renault

Magnussen, Grosjean to leave Haas at end of 2020

Alonso suggests Indy 500 return will be impossible with Renault

F1 to stream the 2011 Canadian Grand Prix on Saturday

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Formula 1 Calendar - 2024

Driver profile

Team profile