Reigning world champion Fernando Alonso says he now understands why his predecessor at McLaren, Kimi Raikkonen, failed to be a contender for the drivers’ title last year.
Last December, Spaniard Alonso, 25, did his first McLaren test at the wheel of the 2006-spec MP4-21, which in the hands of Raikkonen, Juan Pablo Montoya and Pedro de la Rosa failed to win even a single race.
“We have made big progress over the winter,” Alonso told the newspaper Kleinen Zeitung.
“When I drove a McLaren for the first time, the old car, it was clear to me why Kimi could never beat me last year.
“But this year we should fight for the title.”
Alonso, winner of fifteen grands prix, switched from the Renault team at the end of 2006.
He said his target for 2007 is nothing less than a third successive world championship; a feat achieved in the past only by Michael Schumacher and Juan Manuel Fangio.
“After you win two titles,” Alonso confirmed, “you are not content with anything less, but luckily for me McLaren has the same goal.”
