“He can lift himself to even greater heights” - WhitmarshFernando Alonso rather unfairly took a bit of a panning from the media following the Bahrain Grand Prix. Starting fourth, Alonso struggled with his brakes in the event and finished the race in fifth position, having
lost a spot to
Nick Heidfeld on track. One less than shining race does not reflect the contribution that the double World Champion has made to the team states McLaren F1 CEO Martin Whitmarsh.
“Fernando’s performance is inevitably judged on what has happened on the three Sunday afternoons we have had so far this season, which sees him as joint leader of the Drivers’ Championship,” Whitmarsh told the official McLaren Mercedes website. “But the reality is his performance from a team perspective is also judged by how he contributes to the team, how he contributes to the technical development of the car, how he helps focus and motivate the organisation. He has been tremendously focused on working with the team and helping us to make improvements in what we do.”
“There is no doubt that Fernando has made a very significant and worthwhile contribution to our programme,” Whitmarsh continued. “It is his honesty, clarity, sincerity.
He happens to be an extremely nice human being, but one who is very focused and intent on winning races and World Championships. It is the way that he goes about that, he quietly but insistently puts across his point of view, which has enormous credibility and credence within the team.”
The Formula One circus heads to Circuit de Catalunya next week for critical tests ahead of the Spanish Grand Prix. For Alonso, his home event is very much the highlight of the season.
“Fernando feels that with the crowd behind him he can lift himself to even greater heights,” said Whitmarsh. “We as an organisation have to make sure that whilst we are at the Circuit de Catalunya, we continue to focus on our job and minimise the distraction that arises.”
Source McLaren Mercedes
