McLaren momentum key for Alonso

Fernando Alonso hopes McLaren can maintain momentum from an impressive start to the season as they look to hunt down Formula 1's front-runners. Alonso finished fifth in Melbourne, with Stoffel Vandoorne ninth, in a positive start to the McLaren-Renault relationship.

McLaren matched their points tally after 14 races in 2017 in just one round this year, having ditched their previously troublesome Honda power units.

Alonso was one of many drivers to benefit from the Virtual Safety Car, which helped Sebastian Vettel secure victory, before holding off the Red Bull of Max Verstappen to match his best result since returning to McLaren.

Pre-season issues meant the McLaren did not feature planned upgrades for Melbourne, and Alonso hopes the addition of new parts in Bahrain and next week in China can keep the good time rolling.

"After a positive start to the season I'm already really excited to head to Bahrain and get back in the car," Alonso said. "Australia gave us a positive feeling and I hope we can continue that momentum as we head into these back-to-back races.

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•????10#triple #bahrain #sunday #race #mclaren #f1 #14 pic.twitter.com/LeaU47Vl3J — Fernando Alonso (@alo_oficial) April 2, 2018

"I know the team are working hard back at the factory to push through the upgrades that are in the pipeline, as these, along with the development work we're doing on the chassis and with the power unit, are what will be key to unlocking further performance from our car.

"We mustn't get complacent – these two races in Bahrain and Shanghai are tough on the cars and it's important that we maintain good reliability if we are to maximise our potential.

"The competition is very strong and we need to keep pushing forward for more points."

McLaren sporting director Eric Boullier remains confident that the team can continue to set their sights on catching the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull.

"We're working hard to bring updates to the next two grands prix, which we hope will help our boys continue to put up a good fight," Boullier said.

"As we saw in Melbourne, our competition is tough. We can't take anything for granted and we know that despite a stronger performance than we've seen in recent months, we also benefitted from circumstances around us.

"Our principal targets are further up the grid ahead of us, so we know there’s work to do and our focus is on the development race as well as the race on track.

"The result at Albert Park was a boost that we all needed, but now we must move on, look firmly ahead and keep pushing forward."