- Jerez Test - Day One
Alonso: Slow start not a surprise
Fernando Alonso says he was expecting McLaren-Honda to endure a slow start to the 2015 pre-season and insists he has patience in spades from his frustrating tenure at Ferrari.
Alonso was limited to just six laps on the first day at the Jerez circuit in front of a home crowd as the Honda-powered MP4-30 hit trouble. It was Alonso's first day behind the wheel since his switch from Ferrari, where he spent five seasons which failed to yield a third world championship despite two near misses, something he says will set him in good stead this year.
"My patience was proved for the past five years - I have no problems," Alonso said. "More or less [the first day] went as expected. Obviously it's a slow start as we knew. We saw last year how difficult it was for other teams to complete laps, especially in the first couple of days - even Red Bull did something like ten laps [last year] or something like that.
"It's complex technology we have in Formula One today and we need time and need to learn a lot of things in the car because we start gaining mileage. The car design is also quite extreme, quite aggressive and innovative so definitely we have something to discover there slowly."
Being behind the wheel on Sunday meant Alonso completed the first official lap of McLaren's new Honda era, a rekindled partnership which won four drivers' and constructors' championships between 1988 and 1992. Alonso says the mood of the team was good despite its limited running.
"I would like to do more laps, that's for sure, because after two months waiting for the first test six laps is not enough but we are all happy and excited inside the garage. We had an amazing atmosphere today, during the first lap especially, the comeback of McLaren-Honda after 22 years and I felt so privileged and honoured to be the man to do the first lap. There are a lot of things to work but I believe so much in the project and I'm so, so happy to be sat here. We have a lot of things to do but with a positive approach."
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