McLaren 'much happier' going into 2018 season

Former McLaren team coordinator Jo Ramirez has claimed that his former employers are 'much happier' in their preparations for the 2018 Formula One campaign than in previous seasons, and backed the team to catapult up the rankings now that they are using Renault engines.

For the past three years, McLaren has been using Honda engines but the partnership suffered continual engine reliability problems, resulting in the Japanese manufacturer being ditched in favour of Renault for 2018 on.

It has been 20 years since McLaren won a constructor's championship, but Ramirez thinks the team is 'happier' going into this season.

"They're much happier," said Ramirez.

"They are working very well with Renault engineers because the European people are more open.

"I see them enjoying the moment and doing everything with a lot of passion because they know that at the end of the tunnel they will get results again,

"They have done enough podiums and victories with this engine that they will have to do the same, because if we listen to what Renault and Prost tell us, the engine will at the level of the Mercedes of last year."

Ramirez also provided an opinion on Fernando Alonso's ambition to venture into other motorsports disciplines, and he thinks that McLaren boss Zak Brown is right to allow his driver to do what he wants, adding that the Spaniard 'must have a crazy desire to sit in the car'.

"(Zak) Brown is helping him because it's what Fernando wants to do. In the past we saw F1 drivers racing every weekend in other categories, so in my opinion the more time you spend in a racing car, the better."