Alonso: Recent progress doesn't make up for "very bad" year

McLaren has endured a disappointing third F1 season in partnership with Honda, suffering a lack of power, reliability and results that leave it languishing ninth in the constructors’ championship with two races to go.

Successful aerodynamic development of its 2017 chassis has left McLaren feeling it is close to matching Red Bull on certain circuits and “giggling” with excitement about its prospects for 2018 on the back of a switch to customer Renault engines.

Alonso claimed McLaren now has the best car on the grid, after posting the fifth fastest time in Q1 at the last race in Mexico, but speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend’s Brazilian Grand Prix, the double world champion said this progress does not disguise a terrible campaign for the team.

“I think it was very bad,” Alonso said, when asked for his assessment of the season so far. “It was not a good season, despite the progress that is noticeable we did with the car, and despite the optimism for next year.

“I think we all believe inside the team it will be a fantastic 2018 season – we have a better mood now in the team.

“[But] I think if we look back and we launch the car in McLaren in February - new regulations, four months to work on the engine, to power a little bit what we had in 2016, the hopes for this season were much different, from myself and from the team.

“Now, to be ninth in the constructors’ championship, to use nine engines until now, it cannot be a good season for anyone in the team.”

Alonso reckons the Mexican GP, where he first showed competitive qualifying pace before sitting out Q2 because of a grid penalty and then fought wheel-to-wheel with Lewis Hamilton on Sunday, was McLaren’s “best race” of 2017.

Teammate Stoffel Vandoorne will now also use McLaren’s latest update package, introduced on Alonso’s car two races ago, and Alonso feels Brazil will indicate whether McLaren’s strong Mexico form was merely track specific.

“So far I think Mexico has been our best race,” he added. “We didn’t have any big things coming for Mexico, because it was only four days after Austin, so it could be just track specific. We need to see here in Brazil.

“But I think from Hungary onwards every step we introduced on the car was quite positive - even if in Spa, Monza, because of the layout we didn’t prove it, I think we are in the right direction.

“Definitely still a little bit [needed] to catch the top guys, in terms of also the chassis, but I think we are now optimistic.

“We know our strengths, we know our weakness, and we need to make sure that in March next year we attack all of them.”