Red Bull win puts pressure on McLaren for 2018

McLaren has consistently said that it believes it has one of the best chassis on the Formula 1 grid, but has had no points of reference as the only user of Honda power units since 2015.

However, following its switch to Renault engines for 2018, the Woking team will have two key benchmarks next year, in the form of both Red Bull and the works Renault team.

While encouraged by the dominant style in which Verstappen won at Sepang, Alonso admitted the Dutchman's success means McLaren will have no excuses for not winning next year.

“We saw in Monza a very good performance from Red Bull, which is a power circuit,” said the Spanish driver. “We were already quite happy with that Red Bull performance.

"Malaysia was another step forward, they beat the Mercedes without rain, without any different strategy, without anything. So that was good.

“But that at the same point put some pressure on McLaren, that car I think is quite efficient right now, and is quite powerful on the chassis side, that Red Bull.

"We need to make sure that we do our job on the chassis side, because the engine can deliver wins, as Red Bull proves.

"We need to match that performance on the chassis, and that is a challenge for sure.”

Asked if it was realistic to expect the team to challenge Red Bull in 2018, Alonso added: “Yeah, I think so.

"I think that the challenge is, how can McLaren be in front? But McLaren should never be afraid of matching any other team, because McLaren should beat any other team.”