Alonso sets sights on hat-trick

FERNANDO ALONSO believes he has a shot at winning a hat-trick of Formula One titles next season providing new team McLaren can rediscover their consistency.

After five years with Renault, Alonso leaves as the sport’s youngest ever double world champion, retaining his title on Sunday with a second-place finish in the Brazilian Grand Prix at Interlagos.

There is no doubt Renault’s reliability has proved the bedrock for Alonso to become one of only eight men to win successive titles. Now he heads to a McLaren team that for the first time in a decade failed to win a race during the season, and were a long way behind Renault and Ferrari in the constructors’ championship.