Alonso explains criticism of new car

(GMM) World champion Fernando Alonso has played down his own intimation that the only thing he likes about McLaren's new car for 2007 is the shiny color.

"The car is not ready for Australia and the days are running out," the 25-year-old also reportedly told the Spain television network Telecinco last week. "It is not going to win at the moment."

To the Spanish news agency EFE on Tuesday, however, Alonso hit out at the press for misinterpreting his comments about the MP4-22 and making him seem "pretty unprofessional". "My comments were interpreted as me saying something bad," he added.

At the Barcelona test, Spaniard Alonso insisted that Woking based McLaren still needs to work hard in order to arrive in Melbourne fully competitive, "because as you can see from Ferrari today, our rivals are very quick."

"We are doing well, but so are the others," he added, insisting that McLaren, BMW, Ferrari and Renault are all "very even" on the test tracks.

Alonso added that Honda are "a little bit behind" the fastest four.

"But every day we see new surprises (at the tests) and I don't think anyone is sure what is going to happen when the season gets going.

"It is going to be an interesting year," he said.