Fernando Alonso thinks McLaren should copy the example set by Red Bull in how to maximise results with an uncompetitive package at the Italian Grand Prix.
Alonso and McLaren face the prospect of another start at the rear end of the grid for engine changes, with Red Bull drivers Daniel Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat serving similar demotions. Red Bull has seen a marked improvement in its results of late despite Renault's uncompetitive power unit and Alonso says that should be a motivator for McLaren at Monza.
Asked if McLaren can fight with McLaren for the entire race on Sunday," Alonso said: "I don't know, they are fighting for points and were fighting for a podium [at Spa] with Ricciardo, so definitely they are more competitive. We will see what we can do. I think we have a good example there, they don't have the best package but they are still fighting for the top place so we will try to do the same."
McLaren is likely to repeat its double engine change from the Belgian Grand Prix, which earned them an accumulative grid penalty of 105 places at Spa, in order to effectively have a fresh power unit for Sunday. Alonso admits that imminent change is likely to see McLaren's running severely limited in FP3 and qualifying on Saturday.
"For us nothing will change [if it rains] because we will change engine again so we will start from last as we did in Spa, so we will try to do minimum laps tomorrow. We will start from last in the race and hopefully recover some places."
"It's not easy, as we knew. The circuit is quite tough for us so not very competitive. But we can try to make some changes in the car, try to learn some things and we will see tomorrow how we are."