McLaren’s Baku grid penalty tally reaches 70
Further engine component changes overnight to Fernando Alonso’s McLaren now mean he has a 40-place grid penalty for Sunday’s Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
His team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne currently has a 30-place grid penalty for the race, meaning the team’s total rises to 70.
The team was anticipating major penalties coming into the race as they brought an upgraded MGU-H and turbocharger for Friday.
McLaren tested the ‘spec 3’ Honda engine yesterday on Alonso’s car which produced promising results in the speed trap compared to Vandoorne who was running with the old engine.
However, Alonso will switch back to a brand new ‘spec 2’ power unit for the rest of the weekend, which prompted penalties.
The Spaniard’s progress was hampered yesterday by a gearbox failure but Honda can take great comfort from the potential shown yesterday with the upgraded engine which is likely to appear within the next few rounds.