McLaren suffered some more bad luck during the second day of pre-season testing, resulting in yet another engine change for the team. Fernando Alonso also had poor luck on the opening day of testing, suffering an oil leak that prompted an engine swap.
Things were looking positive for the team, as Stoffel Vandoorne started the day with the standard installation laps and system checks for the test programme. However, Vandoorne’s first day in the new car hit some bumps after only 30 laps of running. The car lost power and the team opted to change the power unit to prevent the car from staying in the garage too long and to allow Honda to have access to the power unit for a comprehensive analysis of the issue.
“When you design a new car and power unit under new regulations, it’s possible that there will be issues that arise that you cannot foresee in pre-season development,” explained Eric Boullier, the racing director of the McLaren team. “Of course, it’s unfortunate, but the important thing is that we learn from them, and there is already a lot of hard work going on behind the scenes by Honda to identify the issues and rectify them as soon as possible.”
Honda believed that Alonso’s oil leak on Monday was due to the new shape of the oil tank for the 2017 regulations, but said that more investigation was needed. It’s unknown whether Vandoorne’s issue is related to the issue experienced by Alonso, although the power unit will be investigated by Honda and will not be reused.
“It wasn’t the best day of running for us, but I’m pleased that despite the issue we still managed to get some laps on the board – I was very happy to get behind the wheel after four months without driving,” said Stoffel Vandoorne when the day was over. “It’s important with a new car and a new design that you can step into the cockpit for the first time and feel confident to push, and I immediately felt comfortable in the car, so that was definitely a positive for me.”
Vandoorne was able to return to the circuit in the afternoon and complete a total of 37 laps for the day. The McLaren car was the second slowest of the day, ahead of Williams which also had an issue filled day. Fernando Alonso returns to action on Wednesday’s testing day, surely hoping to run more laps than either of the first two days.
