In a season that has gone horribly wrong for McLaren after reviving the classic McLaren-Honda partnership, things have gone quite poorly for both drivers. More poor luck in reliability tosses one of these drivers out of the Mexican Grand Prix after less than a lap.
Fernando Alonso had another weekend to forget after parking the car part way through the first lap. The issue was a mechanical failure with the MGU-H component of the power unit. The MGU-H is one of the two motor generator units. This particular unit converts exhaust heat from the engine into energy that can be used to help power the car.
Alonso told the press following his retirement from the race that the issue was spotted on Saturday night. The team was able to confirm the issue on Sunday morning, but there was no time to change the component. The team was given the choice to not start the race or start the race and retire the car early on. The team opted to start the race in order to please the fans. This resulted in a loss of power at the start and forced Alosno to park the car on the first lap.
“We had an MGU-H rotation speed problem – it was something we spotted last night, and unfortunately confirmed it this morning,” said Alonso. “We didn’t have enough time to replace it, so we were left with two options: to race or not to race. We went for the first option, and tried to do as much as we could, out of respect for the amazing fans here in Mexico. I really wanted to go to the grid, take the start, and then just see what happened. It was only one lap, but, even so, I enjoyed it. At least we tried; it’s always best to try than to give up.”
Alonso’s teammate, Jenson Button, had a bit more luck. He was able to complete the full racing distance and bring the car home in fourteenth position. The McLaren-Honda team has been making progress throughout the season, but with few races remaining in the season, fans can’t help but worry that the team will suffer from more gremlins next season.
