Alonso: “The Renault car and engine are working normally”

The striking image of the first day of winter testing in Barcelona (Spain) was the work of Fernando Alonso (McLaren). On his sixth lap, the Spaniard went into the gravel trap at the last turn, having lost a wheel in the process.

The wheels quite literally came off for Fernando Alonso earlier

Just a handful of laps in – not an ideal start to #F1Testing for McLaren #F1 pic.twitter.com/atANeIlr7L

— Formula 1 (@F1) 26th February 2018

“I thought it was good news for the journalists,” explained the double F1 world champion mischievously. It gave them something to grind for. It was only a small problem but it was very noticeable. A car in the gravel is not nothing, everyone sees it. There was a problem with the nut on the right rear wheel, but we would have to ask Eric (Boullier) or someone else from the team for the exact causes. We hadn’t planned to ride accordingly in the morning anyway.”, He explains.

Apart from this mishap, the driver of the orange McLaren MCL33 had a positive day, light years away from the reliability problems linked to the Honda unit. " For now, everything is okay. The car and the engine Renault operate normally. I know a lot of Renault engineers from my years spent with them (in the 2000s, two world titles in 2005 and 2006). I know how they work, how conscientious they are about the flexibility of the engine and its performance. After each run, there is always a good discussion with them. I am extremely satisfied in terms of the engine; this McLaren has significant potential "He says.

“Of course it’s only the start of the season, it’s difficult to see everyone’s performance level. But the data collected during wind tunnel runs seems to be corroborated by the results on the track. We are all optimistic. »

In the second session of the day, rain came to Catalonia. Fernando Alonso was one of the few men to leave the garage on a wet road. “This afternoon, we are one of the cars that ran the most, while some teams encountered more problems. With the low temperatures, the track conditions were difficult. It was not easy to warm up the tires. If it continues to rain tomorrow and Wednesday, it will be difficult to run on the circuit. It would be a real shame for the supporters. For us, doing 20 or 70 loops is not the end of the world, but they wouldn't be able to see many cars on the track. »

Finally, the management of the Halo hardly seems to bother him, except... in the stand. “In the photos, the Halo surprised me. But once behind the wheel, when you concentrate for a long distance stint, you don't look at the middle of the chassis. When you approach a turn, you look out of the Halo, to the right or to the left, so there is no problem. The only worry, is to enter the cockpit and exit into the garage. Above the head there are the light panels, you have to be careful, we have less space there. The Halo is currently not a problem to pilot. »