SPIELBERG, Austria -- Fernando Alonso says McLaren can now aim to be in Formula One's top-ten shootout in "normal circumstances" after narrowly missing out ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix.
After being forced to switch from Honda's upgraded engine to an older power unit due to an MGU-H issue detected overnight, Alonso qualified 12th, just 0.052s off a place in Q3. That put him ahead of McLaren teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, who kept the upgraded power unit.
Alonso thinks his performance shows what the team should aim for when it has its latest upgrades available to both cars.