If the Australian grand prix was held this Sunday, or even in two weeks time, Renault’s newly launched car would not win, Fernando Alonso has admitted.
“I am being realistic,” he told Sspanish reporters in the presence of his 2008 racer, the R28.
“Not pessimistic; I just prefer to speak the truth.”
Following the single seater’s maiden test outing at Valencia last week, 26-year-old Alonso admitted at its launch in Paris on Thursday that the per-lap deficit to those teams at the front is about one full second.
“The car is not competitive enough but in a way it is better than expected so I have mixed feelings,” the Spaniard said.
He told reporters from his native Spain that he would currently give the R28 only “six or seven” out of ten.
“The main expectation is to close the gap on McLaren and Ferrari, but it will be extremely difficult to recover that one second gap,” Alonso added.
Instead of clearly target a third championship with the team, the Spaniard said Renault should begin the season thinking about podiums.
After proving just the fourth force in F1 last season with drivers Giancarlo Fisichella and Heikki Kovalainen, team boss Flavio Briatore shares Alonso’s appraisal.
“Sometimes the driver gives you 90 per cent of the car’s potential, with Fernando you know you have 100 per cent, so that is important.
“We want to fight usually for podiums. And if we are up there regularly, perhaps we could think afterwards about the world title,” the Italian added.
