Alonso to run Honda upgrade in Malaysia

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Fernando Alonso will run an upgraded Honda power unit during Friday practice at the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Honda has spent two tokens on the upgrade, which focuses on the engine block and exhaust, with one token on each area. The update is primarily designed to reduce weight and increase durability, but requires Friday running in order for Honda to gather more data.

With Honda keen to avoid penalties at its home race in Japan next weekend, Alonso will test the upgraded engine on Friday in FP1 before a decision will be taken on whether to run it in FP2. At this stage, Honda is likely to replace the power unit ahead of Saturday's running, thus allowing Alonso to run it at Suzuka without penalty.

Alonso will receive a 30-place grid penalty this weekend as a result of the power unit change, as he will use a new internal combustion engine (ICE), MGU-H, energy store, turbo and control electronics. The first of these new components carries a ten-place grid penalty, while the other four all result in addition five-place penalties.

Jenson Button is likely to get the upgrade in Austin, with the team not wanting both drivers to take grid penalties at the same race.

Honda still has one power unit development token left to spend this season if required, but does not plan on using any further upgrades before the end of the year.

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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.