Alonso lifts McLaren spirits with fighting fifth in Australia

Two-time world champion Fernando Alonso praised his McLaren team for finishing among the points in today's Australian Grand Prix after switching to Renault engines during the off-season.

Alonso fought off Red Bull's young Dutchman Max Verstappen to grab fifth place in the season-opening race, in a sign of improved fortunes for the one-time F1 powerhouse.

The British team have endured a miserable run in recent years. But after ditching beleaguered engine partner Honda and teaming up with Renault they are desperate to make a bigger impression in 2018.

Alonso, 36, looked certain to leave McLaren last year following a disappointing season but decided to extend his deal after the team terminated their relationship with Honda.

"The last couple of years have been difficult, and I think the winter has been difficult as well," the Spaniard said.

"We switched to the Renault engine quite late and the team had to react very quickly to redesign some of the parts at the rear end, and now we've come here and both cars have scored points -- one in the top five."
He added: "We should be proud of that, but I think there's a lot more to come from McLaren."
"As I said before, this race is probably our lowest performance of this season as things are going to get better and better."