19/03/2018
NEWS STORY
After the nightmare of the previous three seasons with Honda, Fernando Alonso admitted that this year's pre-season tests had been a bit of a roller-coast.
Over the course of the eight days of testing, other than the weather the Woking team had to face a number of issues including a faulty wheelnut, a loose exhaust, battery failure and overheating issues thought to be triggered by the tight packaging of the Renault engine.
However, as the team heads off to the season opener in Melbourne, team boss Eric Boullier insists the issues have been addressed.
"We didn't have the reliability we had hoped for in winter testing," he says, "but all the issues we faced have since been addressed back at the factory.
"There's a huge amount of work going on behind the scenes to ensure we leave no stone unturned in our quest to extract the maximum pace we can from our new package from the first race," he adds.
"Our car showed a lot of potential in winter testing," added Fernando Alonso, who ended the test third quickest but also having had the lowest mileage of all the 2018 race drivers on duty, "and although we know we still have a lot to work on, we've already learned a lot about the package and how all the new elements to this year's car work together.
"Australia is its first real test, and we need to work hard all weekend to bring all the ingredients together," he added.
"Nobody can ever predict how other teams will perform at the first race of the season and that all contributes to the excitement."