Fernando Alonso Says McLaren Has “Nothing to Lose” in China
F1 driver wants his team to push it to the limit for this weekend’s Chinese Grand Prix.
When the flag drops for the Chinese Grand Prix on Sunday, Fernando Alonso wants McLaren to push every limit possible and take every necessary risk to try and grab points during the second race of the 2017 Formula One calendar.
In an interview with NBC Sports shortly after wrestling his McLaren to 13th place on the Chinese GP starting grid, Alonso said he was taking "all the risks" he could to fight for the best spot possible, adding that he was "pushing [the car] like an animal."
"There is nothing to lose for us," he told NBC Sports. "The expectations before qualifying were very pessimistic, we were uncompetitive in FP3, and we thought that Q1 was our maximum target. But surprise surprise, we are 13th and we need to take this position and hopefully take any opportunity tomorrow.”
As faithful F1 watchers know well by now, McLaren's efforts this season have been largely stymied by its Honda-built engine, prompting speculation that the blokes from Woking are seeking a split from the Japanese carmaker. Nevertheless, Alonso—who's been in Formula One since 2001—managed to cane the car hard enough in qualifying to close the gap to within one second of Red Bull Racing.
In order to help his chances, Alonso is crossing his fingers that the heavens will open up over Shanghai on Sunday, as he feels more confident in McLaren's ability to grab some semblance of victory from the jaws of defeat when the ground is wet.
"The rain will be good for us I think. In normal conditions I think it's unlikely we get some points. A chaotic race will help us," he said, according to Formula1.com. “We raced a couple of times here in the wet so we should use that experience to take any opportunity."
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