Formula One news

Alonso plays down Renault progress

Fernando Alonso was quick to play down the progress Renault has made in testing this week, despite finishing his final day at the wheel on the top of the timesheets.

"The car has definitely improved, but we're not sure how much progress we've made compared to the rest of the midfield group and whether we've managed to pull away from them," Alonso said. "It's very close as the others have improved too and we are probably still in a similar place as before this test."

"We're still in a gorup where if everything goes well, you can qualify eighth on the grid, but if you don't then you have Red Bull, Toyota and Williams ahead of you and you're suddenly out of Q3," he added. 

"I'm happy with the progress we made, but we need to continue improving because everyone else has done so too," Alonso went on. "We'll only know where we are next week."

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