F1 | Alonso: “We tested several updates”

Free practice in Baku was encouraging for McLaren Honda, mainly due to the good feedback obtained by the engineers from the new specification of the Japanese engine, an updated version of Honda's "Spec 3", mounted on Fernando Alonso's car.

The Spaniard suffered a gearbox problem which put an early end to his Friday tests but the top speed increased by 13 km/h. In fact, the Spaniard achieved a top speed of 327 km/h against the 314 km/h of his partner, Stoffel Vandoorne, stuck at the previous specification of the Honda power unit. The aerodynamic configuration was similar for both. Clearly this is only a small improvement since today's top speed was achieved by Ocon's Force India, with a Mercedes engine, equal to 354 km/h

Tomorrow Alonso will still fit the old specification Japanese engine. On a weekend in which McLaren will still suffer a heavy 15-place grid penalty for replacing the turbo and MGU-H, Honda deemed it pointless to fit the new specification in a race to be run at the rear. The Spec 3 should be used in races starting from the Austrian GP.

“We tested a few things in Free Practice 1 and 2, lapping with different load levels, trying to obtain useful data for tomorrow” commented Alonso. “Stoffel worked on the tyres, running with a high fuel load and giving useful indications for the strategy. The track was treacherous today, the first tires lost temperature on the straight, so when braking you could easily lock up and end up straight. We saw a lot of cars go out today, mainly because everyone is trying to push the limit on Friday. I missed the last half hour of practice in the second session, so I guess tomorrow I'll have to run a bit with more fuel in free practice 3 to try to catch up on the schedule. In any case we will start from the back of the grid, so we will face qualifying calmly" added Alonso, 12th today at the end of Free Practice 2 but stopped 30 minutes from the end by a gearbox problem.

“Today we chose to focus on pace in the long runs because we knew we would have grid penalties. However, I quickly found the feeling with the track in Free Practice 1 and I think it is still possible to improve” commented Vandoorne, 17th today. “The car seems to perform very well here, which is good because you need a lot of confidence on a street circuit. Furthermore, I think that the preparatory work done in the simulator paid off: I immediately felt at ease with the braking points. The tires are quite strange here: it seems like everyone is struggling to get them up to temperature, many riders have ended up locking up. It's difficult, especially when braking, because the tires cool down on the long straights and you have to brake very hard in the corners. The cars are really at their limit to get a good lap time."