Fernando Alonso was left to remonstrate with his Mclaren engineers over the lack of pace from the Honda engine bolted into the back of his Mclaren.
At one point during Sunday’s Grand Prix at Suzuka, a home race for McLaren’s engine suppliers, Alonso said over the radio to his team: “It is very embarrassing”. He was referring to the fact that his McLaren was incredibly slow on the straights compared to the other cars, a fact that Honda were well aware of.
There is also no getting away from the fact that, this is another weekend without points for Alonso and McLaren, in what has been a desperately poor season for a team with such a big budget and two World Champions at the wheels of their cars.
After the race Alonso said: “It’s difficult when you have other drivers overtaking you along the straights, then you arrive at the corners, and watch them out-brake themselves, or make mistakes. Then, when you take the corner perfectly and get overtaken again along the straights, it feels frustrating.”
“We need to improve the programme. The remaining races will be tough, but we’re looking towards next year. We’ll win together, and we need to make it happen as quickly as possible. Hopefully, we can learn some lessons from today’s race and keep improving things.”
