McLaren test driver Pedro de la Rosa has leapt to Fernando Alonso’s defence because he thinks recent comments made by his countryman were misunderstood.
World champion Alonso, 25, is now quoted widely as telling a Spanish television station last week that the seemingly dominant MP4-22 model is not “ready” to win the first race on the ’07 calendar.
“At the moment the handling isn’t right,” the Spaniard added. “It needs more traction and more power.”
Fellow Spaniard de la Rosa, however, tempered Alonso’s comments by saying he agreed that McLaren still has work to do before the circus touches down in Melbourne next month.
“He meant that the car can still be improved, and he is right,” the 35-year-old, who on Monday in Barcelona topped the times over BMW’s Robert Kubica by one thousandth of a second, told ‘Marca’ newspaper.
He added: “The car can go better, but it already goes well.”
GMMF1
DailyF1News.com
