McLaren driver Fernando Alonso said on Thursday (7 May) that he aimed to mount the podium in the coming races despite being in a difficult position to do so.

Alonso was speaking at an event in Barcelona paying homage to his hero and former McLaren driver Ayrton Senna, who died in the 1994 San Marino Grand Prix.

Two-time world champion Alonso joined McLaren at the start of this year from Ferrari, returning to a team he had left after a single acrimonious season in 2007. At Ferrari, he spent five frustrating seasons during which he failed to add to his world title tally.

Alonso joined the championship late this season after crashing heavily on the final day of Formula One's second pre-season test in Barcelona in February and finished in 11th position in the Bahrain Grand Prix.

He now hopes to have better chances in the Spanish Grand Prix this weekend.

"Well, obviously, we are not in a position now that we want. We want to win, we want to be in the podium, in the Champagne ceremony every Sunday afternoon and we are not in that position right now. But the team is doing a fantastic job, we improve a lot in the last events and the aim for this weekend is to keep improving," Alonso told the audience.

If not this weekend, Alonso hoped to deliver results soon.

"We have a lot of new parts and if they deliver what we expect, that will be another step forward for us, moving closer to the midfield cars. And yeah, hopefully soon be in the position that we all want and all the expectations there are with this McLaren-Honda partnership again, we can deliver the results. Hopefully soon," said the Spaniard.

Asked about Senna, Alonso said: "My idol, he was my inspiration. Probably I become Formula One driver thanks to him. So imagine to share the team with him and to learn from him as much as I could."

The 33-year-old Alonso made his debut as 14 years ago with Minardi and has since claimed 32 victories in 236 races.

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