Alonso's driving style worried McLaren
Thursday, January 11th 2007, 09:32 GMT
McLaren have revealed they were worried that Fernando Alonso's unique driving style would not suit their car prior to his first test with them in December.
Alonso has a distinct aggressive turn-in technique and McLaren feared that his success over the past three years at Renault had simply been a result of the team building their car around that.
McLaren's F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh said that his team were concerned that if that was the case, then their car would not be able to exploit Alonso's talent. Those fears were thankfully quashed during Alonso's day of testing with the team before Christmas.
"Everybody at McLaren recognizes that Fernando has a very particular driving style," said Whitmarsh in this week's Autosport. "He has a relatively aggressive application of steering lock and we were worried that his driving style might not translate to another car.
"Happily that wasn't the case - it was a big relief to both of us. In particular, it was a big confidence-boosting opportunity for Fernando."
Whitmarsh claims that the arrival of Alonso alongside Lewis Hamilton has left the team with no excuses not to return to the winners' circle in 2007.
"Fernando Alonso is a proven product," added Whitmarsh. "With Lewis Hamilton already doing an exceptional job, there are no excuses in our driver line-up.
"We've got to provide them with a car capable of winning the world championship - and if we do, we'll win it."