Alonso expecting tough time for McLaren at Yas Marina Circuit
Fernando Alonso enjoyed one of his most competitive performances of the season when he finished eighth in Brazil two weeks ago, but he has warned his supporters not to expect a similar outcome in Sunday’s Etihad Airways Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the season finale to the Formula One season
The two long straights at Yas Marina Circuit are unlikely to play to the strengths of his McLaren car, or rather its underpowered Honda engine.
Double world champion Alonso, who is 15th in the standings this season, was hence keen to dampen hopes of a repeat of Brazil.
“Yas Marina Circuit is a trickier one for us than Brazil,” the Spaniard said in a news release ahead of the start of the track action on Friday with opening practice.
“We had an unexpectedly good result at Interlagos, but we’re anticipating a tougher challenge in Abu Dhabi.
“Of course, the whole team wants to finish the season on a high, so we’re working hard to extract every last bit of performance out of the MCL32.”
Alonso, whose best result in Abu Dhabi was as runner-up in both the 2011 and 2012 races, believes his best chance of a points finish in Sunday’s 55lap race is by getting as high a grid spot as possible, meaning a strong performance in the one-hour qualifying session on Saturday.
“Qualifying is crucial on this track because overtaking is tricky, so it’s important we get the set-up right as early as we can in the weekend,” he said.
The regulation changes for 2017, with wider cars and tyres in an attempt to increase aerodyanmic grip and lower lap times should increase the enjoyment factor for drivers and fans at the 5.5km track according to the 36 year old.
“Racing on this circuit is a really special way to end the season – racing in twilight and then the dark, and in ever-evolving conditions makes it interesting for the drivers, and I’m sure this year’s cars will be super fun to drive around this track,” he added.
“I’m looking forward to it and I hope we can end the season with a strong result as a reward for all the efforts of the whole team this year.”
It will be Alonso’s teammate Stoffel Vandoorne’s first Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Sunday as he completes his first full season in the series, but the Belgian has plenty of past experience of competing at Yas Marina to call upon.
“It’s good to finish the season at a circuit I know well after a couple of new ones in the past few races,” he said.
“I’ve driven at Yas Marina Circuit a number of times – in testing and also in GP2, and I’ve won here twice, which are really special memories. I’m looking forward to tackling it again in a Formula 1 car – it’s a tricky, technical circuit, but rewarding, and because of its configuration it’s pretty difficult to overtake.”
The one thing that will be new for Vandoorne is the twilight conditions of the race, with the event beginning in daylight at 5pm, but finishing at night with the track’s floodlights on at around 6.40pm.
“Racing from day to night isn’t something I’ve experienced much of in Abu Dhabi because of the timings of the GP2 races, but driving as the sun goes down is really cool,” he added.
“I like racing on this circuit and there’s definitely a special feeling at this grand prix.
“It’s a strange mix between that ‘end-of-term’ feeling and a lot of anticipation about the weekend ahead, before everyone goes home for a break and then starts working on next year’s car.”
Vandoorne has scored 13 points this season, and he said: It’s been a challenging year, but ultimately a rewarding one because I’ve learned a lot, and I can’t wait to see what next year will bring. We’ll be pushing hard this weekend to finish the year on a high.”