Alonso plays down Renault chances
Fernando Alonso has played down Renault's chances of challenging at the top of Formula One and says he does not expect the French team to make any real progress this season. The Spaniard finished fourth in the opening race in Australia but struggled to make an impact in Malaysia, finishing back in eighth after struggling for pace.
"It was more or less as we expected," the Spaniard was quoted as saying by AS newspaper.
"We knew that finishing in the top eight was going to be difficult and if it hadn't been for Felipe Massa's retirement we wouldn't have made it, that's the reality and that's what the situation is like, it was no surprise.
"In a normal race, with no retirements, we were ninth in qualifying and eighth in the race. Everything was as expected."
Alonso believes patience will be the key for Renault this season and admits he is not expecting their fortunes to turn around overnight.
"Of course," he replied when asked if he will have to get used to the lack of pace. "In Barcelona we will have some improvements for the car, (but) the same ones all teams will have, so the championship is going to stay more or less the same.
"We saw it last year and we see it every year. The cars that win the first two or three races stay on top. We are not going to see big surprises during the year."
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