F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Alonso's Singapore engine is good to go, says Honda

Honda has confirmed that the engine installed in Fernando Alonso's injured McLaren in Singapore will be re-used in Malaysia.

The Spanish driver was collateral damage in the first lap crash which marked the start of the race in Marina Bay.

While Alonso initially continued on his way after the incident he ultimately retired after eight laps with a holed exhaust and damaged electronics.

The MCL32's power unit emerged unscathed however after the chaos, according to Honda's Yusuke Hasegawa.

"We were concerned that it may have been irreparably damaged, but fortunately after a thorough check back at the Sakura factory we can confirm it is okay to be re-used," explained Hasegawa.

Both Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne qualified in the top ten in Singapore but the Woking-based outfit isn't expecting a comparable level of performance at Sepang and on its power hungry long straights.

"After Singapore, I’m already eager to get back into the car and hopefully make it further than the first corner in Malaysia!

"Of course, what happened was disappointing and it’s difficult to hide your frustration when you’re the victim of someone else’s incident," underlined Alonso.

"I felt we had the potential to be really competitive – one of our only opportunities of the year – and it’s a shame we couldn’t bring home the points to prove it, but these things happen."

"The conditions in Malaysia will be very similar to Singapore – hot, humid and challenging for the drivers and the car.

"The configuration will work less in our favour, but of course we will still fight for everything. There are six races left and we are still putting all our energy in finishing every race in the best possible position we can.

"Sepang will be more difficult for us in terms of set-up since the straights require good straight-line speed and power, but this track is a mixture of a lot of different characteristics, so we’ll see how much we can make up on the slower-speed corners.

"The 2018 cars will definitely be faster through there, which will surely be fun to experience, and I hope we can avoid any drama and have a solid race."

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Michael Delaney

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