Alonso would "feel bad" driving a McLaren in testing

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16:56, 27 Feb 2019

Former McLaren driver Fernando Alonso said he would "feel bad" if he drove the MCL34 in pre-season testing instead of the current drivers.

Carlos Sainz Jr. and Lando Norris are the new drivers for the Woking-team this season, with Alonso retiring from F1 and Stoffel Vandoorne being dropped due to bad performances.

There have been talks between the two-time world champion and McLaren about a potential day of testing, but Alonso admitted to Motorsport.com that he would "feel bad" to rob one of the new drivers of valuable track-time.

"I don't miss driving the car, to be honest, because I know that they have a very complex programme of testing," Alonso said.

"They are doing certain tests to get an answer before Australia. In the afternoon they go for the race simulation that they need to test the tyres, the behaviour.

"The drivers need to learn how the team reacts in different scenarios on a race situation, so I think it's very valuable time for the race drivers at the moment and I know probably most of those procedures and they are lacking that time, so I would even feel bad.

Pos.	Driver	Team	Points
1	Kimi Antonelli Kimi Antonelli	MercedesMER	292
2	George Russell George Russell	MercedesMER	211
3	Lewis Hamilton Lewis Hamilton	FerrariFER	191
4	Lando Norris Lando Norris	McLarenMCL	186
5	Charles Leclerc Charles Leclerc	FerrariFER	167
6	Max Verstappen Max Verstappen	Red Bull RacingRBR	145
7	Oscar Piastri Oscar Piastri	McLarenMCL	120
8	Isack Hadjar Isack Hadjar	Red Bull RacingRBR	71
9	Liam Lawson Liam Lawson	Racing BullsRCB	59
10	Pierre Gasly Pierre Gasly	AlpineALP	41
11	Arvid Lindblad Arvid Lindblad	Racing BullsRCB	31
12	Franco Colapinto Franco Colapinto	AlpineALP	27
13	Oliver Bearman Oliver Bearman	HaasHAA	18
14	Gabriel Bortoleto Gabriel Bortoleto	AudiAUD	10
15	Nico Hulkenberg Nico Hulkenberg	AudiAUD	7
16	Carlos Sainz Carlos Sainz	WilliamsWIL	6
17	Alexander Albon Alexander Albon	WilliamsWIL	5
18	Esteban Ocon Esteban Ocon	HaasHAA	3
19	Fernando Alonso Fernando Alonso	Aston MartinAST	3
20	Yuki Tsunoda Yuki Tsunoda	Racing BullsRCB	1
21	Lance Stroll Lance Stroll	Aston MartinAST	0
22	Valtteri Bottas Valtteri Bottas	CadillacCAD	0
23	Sergio Perez Sergio Perez	CadillacCAD	0

Alonso would "feel bad" driving a McLaren in testing

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