"The same engine as Red Bull will be the truth," says Alonso
Monday 2 October 2017 14:43, UK
Fernando Alonso says McLaren will find out "the truth" about their car next season when they are pitched alongside Red Bull as Renault customers.
McLaren believe their car is a match for the sport's three frontrunning teams - Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull - but a lack of power from their exclusive supply of Honda engines has made any such assessments impossible over the last three years.
That, though, won't be the case next season when they swap to Renault power units and receive the same engines as both Renault's works outfit and a Red Bull team which dominated the sport before F1's engine revamp in 2014.
"Next year will be a good test," Alonso told Sky F1 in Singapore. "The same engine as Red Bull will be the truth to see whether the chassis is good or not.
"For the last three years we have been the only team with the Honda engine so it's been hard to compare. But the engineers do simulations on everything and we believe we have a good car."
Mark Hughes: Can McLaren beat Red Bull in 2018?
Speaking to the official F1 website, team boss Eric Boullier added: "Today we know that we have a decent chassis, which would allow us to be in the top three again with an equal level engine."
Confirmation of McLaren's switch to Renault power was only made after weeks of wrangling and has seen Honda switch to Toro Rosso.
McLaren have estimated they are two weeks behind their rivals in terms of integrating their 2018 engine into their design for next year's car but are confident they will be able to catch up.
"Two weeks is recoverable, it won't be any compromise next year," said Boullier.
"Of course, we don't have the same experience as some of the customers, so we have to discover the package.
"But, I think we can trust our engineers to do a very good job and two weeks are recoverable."
So who will win the battle of Renault power?
Analysis from Sky Sports F1 columnist Mark Hughes:
'Throughout McLaren's painful three-year Honda relationship, it remained adamant that its chassis has been among the best - the obvious implication being that the power unit was responsible for the shortfall. That's probably a simplistic analysis, because although the engine has certainly cost more lap time than any chassis deficiencies we still do not know definitively how the McLaren would compare to the top cars given power parity.
'A straight head to head with an identically-powered Red Bull next year will give as near a definitive answer as possible. Because although this year's Red Bull RB13 began the season aerodynamically flawed (because of a wind tunnel issue), it has since been developed to be arguably the best chassis of all in the season's second half, much as Red Bulls have usually been. It has a power shortfall of its own, of course, but a significantly smaller one than suffered by the McLaren MCL32.
'Red Bull RB14 versus McLaren MCL33, with the same power units in the back and a wealth of driver talent in both, is one of the most fascinating prospects of next season.'
