MELBOURNE, Australia -- Fernando Alonso has called on Honda to up its game significantly in the opening rounds of the season after power unit issues restricted McLaren's progress during pre-season testing.
For the third year in the row, McLaren looks destined for another season chasing points rather than podiums and could even struggle to finish the race at this week's season opener in Australia. The reconfigured Honda power unit suffered from a lack of power and reliability throughout testing, leaving McLaren with limited mileage to understand its new MCL32 car.
Asked what for his target this year, Alonso said: "To have a good championship position. To have podiums to win races, that's the aim when you start a new season and when you're in a big team like McLaren. That's the dream and the aim but we know it's going to be difficult especially after winter testing where we had so many difficulties.
"There's still a long way to go for us and we need to see a reaction from Honda as soon as possible. We need to give time to tell us how the races are. There are many questions we need to answer.
"I don't know the details on how we can improve the power and the power unit. I'm sure there are a lot of complexities behind and I don't know the full picture but we need to speed up, change gear and be at the level of our competitors and hopefully we can do it as soon as possible."
Alonso said he feels like he is operating at the top of the game but is unable to fulfil his potential because of his car.
"It's frustrating. I have been preparing for this year a lot. I feel great and like I'm driving at my best. So when you're not competitive or not able to do 10 or 11 laps in winter testing it's frustrating but it's the way it is and now we need to work hard and not give up. It's just the way it is and hopefully we can improve the situation.
"This is Formula One, nobody will wait for you for one day or one hour -- this is not a charity game. We need to improve, raise our level, compete hard and hopefully enjoy the challenge."