Alonso: "We can not expect to be the fourth team in Hockenheim"

Fernando Alonso said Tuesday that McLaren Honda can not wait "to be the fourth best team" at the Hockenheimring, where this weekend will be played the Grand Prix of Germany, twelfth round of the World Formula One Championship.

In remarks broadcast by the British team, two-time world champion in Hockenheim warned that the "middle rivals will be stronger", so he said that McLaren Honda can not "expect to be the fourth best team."

Yes it was last Hungarian Grand Prix, played at the Hungaroring, where Fernando Alonso was seventh after the two cars of Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari.

The Spaniard, however, said he would try to "maximize" the performance of the MP4-31.

"The whole team has worked very hard in the first half of the year, so it would be nice to have a little luck and finish with both cars without any major complications," he added.

Alonso also said that given the particularity of the Hockenheimring will need "an admittedly high downforce".

"Although the vast majority of the corners are low speed, arriving after long straights that require a lot of power, so the development of the power unit and chassis for both is quite complicated. For this type of circuit need a car that you can drive and I feel that we are improving in that area, "he said.

His teammate, Jenson Button, agreed with the analysis of the Spanish pilot.

"We expect a difficult weekend because the cars just above are those who have more straight-line speed, but we'll see what we can do. The MP4-31 has good balance and traction out of corners, so maybe we can win something time in a turn, "he assessed.