Fernando Alonso admitted McLaren “got lucky” but they made the most of their opportunities and, in their first race with new power unit partner Renault, ended up equalling the best result they scored over three years with Honda.
Alonso’s fifth-place finish in Australia and Stoffel Vandoorne’s ninth gave McLaren only their sixth double-points finish in two years – and their first points in Melbourne since 2014, when Kevin Magnussen and Jenson Button took their Mercedes-powered cars to second and third.
After years of pain with Honda, Alonso praised the Renault engine, describing it as a “different feeling”. He was delighted to “be able to attack” and reckons “it’s going to be much more fun this year”. The more fun Alonso has, hopefully the more entertaining it’ll be for the rest of us. Next target: Red Bull.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/features/2018/3/winners-and-losers---australian-gp-edition.html