Fernando Alonso says Mercedes dominance justifies McLaren switch

Fernando Alonso joined McLaren after five seasons at Ferrari

Fernando Alonso has insisted that results at the start of the new F1 season have justified his decision to leave Ferrari for McLaren.

The Spaniard quit the Scuderia after five seasons in red at the end of 2014 to join forces with McLaren ahead of their reunion with Honda. The team have endured a desperate struggle so far in 2015, with both cars eliminated in Q1 in Australia and Malaysia, while a revitalised Ferrari claimed a podium finish in Melbourne and ended Mercedes’ long of front-row lock-outs at Sepang.

But with Mercedes still in a league of their own, Alonso remains adamant that rolling the dice was the logical career choice.

“When I saw Mercedes winning by half a minute [in Australia] I was so clear about my decision. To beat Mercedes at the moment you need to do something different. You need to risk somehow because if you copy you will be always behind. So I’m in the right place,” Alonso told Sky Sports F1 after qualifying just 18th for the Malaysia GP, his worst grid slot since 2010.

“It’s a very exciting challenge because we will grow up together from the bottom and when we arrive to the points, or a podium position, we will look at each other and say this has been a very exciting trip.”

Nor has Alonso’s belief in the McLaren-Honda ‘project’ been dimmed by either his infamous crash in testing or the team’s profound struggles so far this year. In the words of team boss Eric Boullier, the Spaniard conducted qualifying with ‘infectious enthusiasm’ and maintained his positive outlook even after falling at the first hurdle of Q1.

Alonso and Jensen Button were eliminated in Q1

“It was expected. It’s a tough period at the moment for us being out of Q1 but if we see the facts and the numbers it’s much better than it’s been in Australia in terms of pace and so I think we are making very big progress,” Alonso added. “If we can improve 1.5 seconds every two weeks in three or four races we’ll be in pole!

“It’s a very challenging period for us. The development rate will be very high and very steep for us at the moment because we are far behind. Every race we will improve and every race we will learn things and tomorrow is the first real test for me. It will be the very first time we do a formation lap, a start, a pitstop – things that we could not do in winter testing.”

McLaren are yet to publicly comment on Alonso’s extraordinary description of the cause of his crash in pre-season testing at Barcelona. However, despite the 33-year-old’s account being entirely at odds with the team’s explanation, chief executive Ron Dennis is believed to be ‘calm’ about the matter.