Fernando Alonso admits the final day of the first F1 pre-season test in Barcelona was “disappointing” for McLaren-Honda with very limited running, but the Spaniard insists there are positives to take from the opening week.
While Alonso racked up 119 laps on Tuesday in the MP4-31, he could only do three installation laps in the final morning before a coolant leak confined the double world champion to his garage for the rest of the day.
“[Thursday] was disappointing after starting the first couple of days of the test so positively,” Alonso said. “Still, it’s good news that although the issue we had on the car meant we had to miss a lot of today’s running, it’s not a major problem and will be fixed in time for next week’s test.”
Coming off a disastrous 2015 campaign, McLaren-Honda enjoyed a productive start to this week’s test but could only do 54 laps across the final two days, as Button’s progress was also hampered by a hydraulic leak on Wednesday afternoon.
However, Alonso would rather focus on the positives with an eye towards making further headway next week’s second group session in Barcelona, which takes place from March 1-4 at the Spanish Grand Prix venue.
“Overall, we’ve managed a good number of laps during this test, which means we have a lot of data to analyse and learn from.
“Over the weekend we’ll work hard to get everything prepared for next week, with the aim of getting as much time on track as possible.”
By comparison, US newcomers Haas were able to complete 281 on its debut test, i.e. 24 more than McLaren-Honda (257). Only F1 minnows Manor secured less mileage than the Woking-based outfit with 254 laps for the MRT05.
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Day four of the first test as it happened
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