McLaren insist Alonso is 'happy' despite testing struggles

McLaren racing director Eric Boullier has claimed that Fernando Alonso has a "different mindset" to previous seasons and that the Spaniard remains "happy" with his place in the team despite issues with engine reliability during testing in Barcelona over the past week or so.

During the winter off-season, McLaren opted to terminate their contract with Honda which saw the Japanese manufacturer provide engine parts to the team.

A Renault power unit is in the new McLaren MCL33, but the team still suffered reliability problems in testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

Alonso, a major critic of Honda's engines last season, was left frustrated during testing but Boullier insists his driver remains happy with the team's preparations before the opening Grand Prix in Melbourne this month.

"He is happy yes. Obviously he’s a competitor so he wants the best of the best and he wants more always," the McLaren director claimed.

"Even if you asked Lewis Hamilton 'are you happy?’ he will tell you: 'No I need this, I need that, I want this’, they always want more.

"Alonso is in different mindset this year. You may have seen actually spending a lot of time here even when not driving the car, so he’s quite interested and supportive of what we’re doing.

"I’m sure he’s happy now."

When quizzed by journalists as to whether Alonso was happy with the development of the new vehicle, Boullier once again responded positively.

"He’s quite happy with the car and the car balance. There is some suspension work to be done, to work and understand the car, but he’s quite happy with the balance of the car."