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First sounds of frustration at McLaren from Fernando Alonso

Spaniard has yet to score a point since transfer from Ferrari

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Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso vent their frustrations over McLaren’s team radio during the Canadian GP.

Fernando Alonso and Jenson Button have insisted they still have faith in the McLaren-Honda partnership, despite both drivers voicing their unhappiness with the team's lack of competitiveness during the Canadian GP.

Frustration appeared to boil over in both MP4-30 cockpits as a wretched weekend for the one-time F1 superpower culminated with the two former world champions retiring from the race after running near the back of the field during what was a torrid 90 minutes for the Woking outfit.

While Button was lapped after just 20 laps by race victor Lewis Hamilton, Alonso angrily responded to a request to save fuel by complaining that the team were in danger of "looking like amateurs" if they slowed what little pace they had. The former world champion has yet to score a point since transferring to McLaren from Ferrari over the winter.

However, like his team-mate, Alonso refused to remain downcast after the race.

"No frustration, it was just I had some battles going on, I had to save fuel, save tyres and after three or four reminders I said 'First let me race because it is my good motivation now, as we have cars around and then at the end if we are on our own, we save fuel then'," Alonso clarified afterwards to Sky Sports F1.

"There are different parts of the races that require different driving techniques, different fuel saving or tyre saving and in that first part of the race, I didn’t agree that it was the time to do that as I had cars around. So I had some fun, I put [on a] defensive mode because we were too slow on the straight to pass anyone so it was more defending than attacking, but at least I had some fun and at the end, we didn’t need to save any fuel as we didn’t finish the race.

"But we know the situation, it is what it is, and what we need to do is work harder than ever because we want to change the situation. All the things I see for future races make sense, I see some positive signs that everything that is coming makes sense."

More from Canadian Gp 2015

Jenson Button drives the MP4-30
Image: Jenson Button drives the MP4-30

Button was forced to start from the back of the grid before taking a drive-through penalty as a result of an emergency engine change before qualifying that rendered the 2009 world champion a spectator on Saturday afternoon. The Englishman described his weekend as "painful", but bristled with defiance against the suggestion that the new McLaren-Honda alliance had underperformed in 2015.

"It's easy to look at it and say 'Oh, it's a terrible season for McLaren-Honda' but it's not just the case," said Button. "We've improved massively this year and I think we should be happy with what we've done. But you do have difficult days."

Previously supplied engines by Mercedes, McLaren reunited with Honda in the belief that only a 'works team' could expect to win a F1 world championship in the future. Despite the ongoing struggles of the new partnership, Button remains adamant that McLaren were right to reunite with the Japanese manufacturer.

"We are a long way behind in terms of development but if you don't take a stab with a new project like this, you are never going to fight the top guys," he declared. "There is no way someone else with a Mercedes engine can win the world championship. Ferrari possibly can and so can we. So we had to see."

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