Fernando Alonso says Honda have made big progress in the last 12 months, as he returns to Suzuka a year on from his infamous GP2 engine radio outburst at McLaren partners home race. At last years Japanese GP Alonso labelled the teams performance embarrassing and likened Hondas engine to one from F1s feeder series as he struggled to battle with cars down Suzukas main straight.A year on, and with the McLaren-Honda project now delivering more consistent points finishes, Alonso was asked to reflect on his Suzuka rant, although stopped short of expressing any regret. We changed a lot from last year, said Alonso. The engine last year was not ready to compete so I said [that] from the beginning of the year in all the interviews. Ted Kravitz gives his thoughts on the Malaysia Grand Prix after Daniel Ricciardo wins with an engine failure denying Lewis Hamilton victory Our boss from Honda was saying in all the interviews at the beginning of the year that the project was immature, we were learning a lot of things and we were in a process to improve the engine. So I was not saying anything differently.Driver ratings: Alonso shines in MalaysiaThis year we are all saying again the same thing: we have made a lot of progress and are happy with the direction that we are going and we are able to compete with the other teams finally. The F1 Report looks back at the 2016 Malaysia Grand Prix Alonso has previously claimed his radio messages are played out on the world feed more often than other drivers, and added: My radio messages are quite interesting all the time. I heard many, many radio messages from other drivers - world champion drivers - that dont have that impact.It means probably Im funnier, or something like that, which is good! Up to sixth in this years constructors championship, McLaren have scored points in six of the last eight races and Alonso believes they can target being the fourth-quickest team at the remaining five rounds.It will be the target to be in the points both cars every single race and being in Q3 every single race, he said. We know that in some circuits its going to be tougher than others, so that will depend circuit to circuit, but we have that possibility in our hands.Even if we are not the fourth fastest, in Singapore that was Toro Rosso, with the starts, with strategy and experience we can still fight for seventh place in the races. Its possible and its our aim to always be the fourth or fifth quickest team in every single race.You can watch Englands tour of Bangladesh, plus Premier League football and the Japanese Grand Prix on Sky Sports. Upgrade now and enjoy three months at half price! Also See: The F1 Gossip Column QUIZ: Which Grand Prix is it? Whens the Japanese GP on Sky? WATCH: F1 Report Malaysia Fake Black Friday Shoes . -- The way Ted Ligety carved into turns looked so easy. Black Friday Shoes Free Shipping . Make that, almost always subjective. Saturday at Carrow Road, the spirit of fair play trumped the rulebook, costing Norwich City three points. https://www.shoesblackfriday.com/ . LOUIS -- The St. Wholesale Black Friday Shoes . The 31-year-old Russian dominated the No. 3-ranked Ferrer throughout, breaking the defending champion and local favourite four times on the indoor hard court. Black Friday Shoes Deals . The Canadiens captain, who underwent surgery on his injured biceps in the off-season, had been skating with the team in a non-contact capacity since last week.MIAMI - Lance Stephensons ear-blowing antics are over. That was the order the Indiana guard got from Pacers president Larry Bird, who took issue with Stephensons antics in Game 5 of the Eastern Conference finals against the Miami Heat. Stephenson was caught by television cameras blowing into the ear of Heat star LeBron James. That led to a conversation between Stephenson and Bird. "He said, Dont do it again," Stephenson said Friday, recalling his talk with Bird. "So Im not going to do it again." Stephensons non-play-related words and stunts have largely become the story of the East finals, starting from when he talked about the health of Dwyane Wades knees before the series. In Game 5, not only did he blow into James ear, but also walked into a Heat huddle while Miami coach Erik Spoelstra was talking things over with a couple players. And on Thursday, Stephenson was quoted in NBA-provided transcripts referring to Heat guard "Cole Norris," instead of the players actual name, Norris Cole. "Itd be good just to play basketball," Pacers guard Paul George said. "When youve got antics and stuff being bigger than the game, then of course its going to raise some eyebrows. But here, we just want to play basketball. Its the conference finals. Everything else can just kind of sit on the side." Stephenson has created some Heat-related storylines in each of the last three postseasons, starting when he directed a "choke" sign toward James during the 2012 East semifinals. Earlier in this series, Stephenson said that when James talks to him during a game, the four-time MVP is showing signs of "weakness.dddddddddddd" But Friday, hours before the Heat and Pacers were to play Game 6 of the series, Stephenson said, "I dont think I can get into his head. Hes the best player in the league. He knows how to play through that stuff." Wade and fellow Heat star Chris Bosh said they wouldnt stand for one of their teammates creating such a stir. "If theyre focused on that," Stephenson said, "thats good." The Heat were taking a 3-2 series lead into Friday night, and were one win away from ousting Indiana for a third straight season. And given that its now win-or-else time for the Pacers, Indiana forward David West said hed encourage Stephenson to do whatever it takes in Game 6. "Thats a part of who Lance is," West said. "I didnt even know (what he did) until after the game. Obviously, were in a must-win situation. So everything is a go in my opinion. Weve got to try to win this game. Weve got to try to do whatever we can to get whatever type of advantage we can get to try to win the game." Stephenson said multiple times Friday that hes simply trying to have fun and help the Pacers win. But when asked by a reporter after Indianas shootaround practice "How does blowing in the ear contribute to winning?," he didnt respond for several seconds. With that, a member of the Pacers media-relations staff told Stephenson to go shoot, and he walked away. ' ' '