Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMcLaren

’Definitely progress’ for McLaren - Alonso

Fernando Alonso says there is “definitely progress being made” with Honda’s updated power unit after initial running ahead of the United States Grand Prix.

On a rain-affected day of practice, McLaren was the busiest team as Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button completed 38 laps between them during FP1. With no running in the second session it left McLaren with the highest mileage of the day as it compared power unit specifications between Alonso’s new Honda engine and the previous version in Button’s car.

Despite the conditions, Alonso said he could clearly see improvements being made with the car and power unit during the first session.

“It’s a pity we couldn’t get any running under our belts [on Friday afternoon],” Alonso said. “We had a productive morning session, running through some power unit and aero evaluations. There’s definitely progress being made, and it would’ve been nice to have further validated those changes in FP2.

“[In the] afternoon, the rain was just too heavy for us to run safely. I can’t remember the last time I saw weather like that – it was unbelievable. In these situations, the highest priority is to keep the fans and competitors safe – so we made the right decision.”

Alonso will race with the new specification power unit while Button has to wait until the Mexican Grand Prix to receive the updated version.

Technical analysis: Exclusive pictures of the 2015 Honda power unit

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.