McLaren boss Eric Boullier insists that Fernando Alonso is still happy at his team even with the team's continued reliability issues, saying the Spaniard is in a different set of mind this season.
Alonso was able to record the third fastest time of the winter for McLaren, but the mechanical issues that have plagued the teams over the last years continued. Friday was the latest example of the problems the papaya-orange cars seem to be continuing to have, as Alonso was sidelined for four hours of testing time with a gearbox problem.
The two-time champion was known to be very frustrated the last few years, as the team could never put together a competitive package for him to race in. The latest issues don't bother him as much though, according to Boullier.
"He is happy yes. Obviously he’s a competitor so he wants the best of the best and he wants more always," he said.
"Fernando is in different mindset this year. You may have seen actually spending a lot of time here even when not driving the car, so he’s quite interested and supportive of what we’re doing.
"He’s quite happy with the car and the car balance. There is some suspension work to be done, to work and understand the car, but he’s quite happy with the balance of the car."
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