After a couple of flyaway races, McLaren and Fernando Alonso are looking forward to returning to Europe for this weekend's Austrian Grand Prix where, after scoring their first points in Baku just over a week ago, they plan to push on with developing their 2017 package.
After the excitement and incidents of Azerbaijan, the hope is that Austria will once again deliver a thrilling race for Formula One fans across the globe.
The Red Bull ring itself seems to produce good, close racing, and its configuration should certainly suit the McLaren better than the high speeds and long straights of both Montreal, Baku and the forthcoming race at Silverstone.
In fact, the Woking based squad had one of their strongest showings in Austria last year, when Jenson was third in a rain-affected qualifying session, and went on to finish a very competitive sixth.
There's been no let-up in their development push all season, and, while the result in Azerbaijan was nothing to truly celebrate, it was a sign that they are working well and able to capitalise whenever an opportunity presents itself.
With a number of improvements planned for the Austrian weekend, not least the proposed new Spec Three power unit upgrade from Honda, Alonso is hopeful that they will be in a position to get amid the other midfield runners and take a useful step forwards.
“I really enjoyed my race in Baku. Our performance in the race not only showed that the foundations of our car package are strong, but also that our operational team – our mechanics, engineers and strategists – are all racers, poised and waiting to take advantage of any situation” he said. “Two points may have been a small consolation after an extremely tough weekend, but, as I said at the time, we'll take it and use it to drive us forwards.”
“And there are reasons to feel more optimistic about our weekend in Austria. It's a circuit that's not as dependent on power as some of the recent races, and I think our car will be better suited to the twists and turns of the Spielberg circuit. I think we'll be able to push hard.”
“We've also got a couple of useful steps coming on the car, including – hopefully – Honda's revised Spec Three power unit, which I tried during Friday practice in Azerbaijan. Every step is important, so I'm looking forward to a positive weekend where we can once again get everything out of the car.”
