Fernando Alonso says he was trying “to have a little bit of fun” when he spun his McLaren MP4-30 in the closing stages of Friday’s first free practice session at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.
Honda has brought a massive update to its power unit for the Spanish Grand Prix, but the Woking-based squad experienced a disappointing start to its weekend when Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button could only manage 15th and 16th in FP1.
Describing his late-session spin, the Spaniard points to track conditions but also admits it happened because of his thrill-seeking behaviour.
“It was not on purpose, obviously,” said Alonso. “It was one of the in-laps and you try to push a little more to have a little bit of fun. The cars are not too quick this year and also the track is a bit slower today.
“I think Mercedes did 1:23s in winter testing and we are running in 1:26s and 1:27s, so definitely today there was not much grip for anybody and we try to have some fun on the in-laps.”
The McLaren-Honda duo improved in the afternoon, as Button and Alonso hoisted their newly liveried MP4-30s to P7 and P11 respectively. But the double world champion, who has been suffering from an eye inflammation this weekend, claims there is still work to do in order to unlock more pace.
“It was okay. We need to check all the tests we did today and tomorrow put everything together and hopefully increase the performance a little bit.”
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