---
title: "Alonso’s McLaren-Honda misery: Year Three so far"
canonical: "https://readmotorsport.com/2017/08/17/mid-season-alonso-mclaren-honda/"
type: "post"
language: "en-GB"
author: "Bethonie Waring"
section: "Formula 1"
published: "2017-08-17T17:19:31Z"
modified: "2017-08-17T17:19:31Z"
---

# Alonso’s McLaren-Honda misery: Year Three so far

For the third consecutive season, McLaren Honda has let down star driver Fernando Alonso.

The engine manufacturer promised great things for 2017 at the start of the season, having changed its engine design to something a little closer to Mercedes’. Things didn’t exactly go to plan, and Honda seemed to take another step backwards.

Four rounds into the season, Alonso had failed to finish a single race. In Russia, the two-time champion hadn’t even managed to make it to the grid, suffering an ERS software fault on the warm up lap.

Team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne hadn’t fared much better. The rookie managed to take two finishes – a 13th and 14th – but also suffered a retirement and a “DNS”.

The disappointing start to the F1 season brought rumours Alonso would be leaving at the end of the year. The announcement he would be missing the Monaco Grand Prix to race in the Indy 500 only strengthened those rumours.

Having completed testing in America ahead of the Russian GP, Alonso was asked many times after the race if he was considering a move to Indy next year. Alonso repeatedly insisted Formula 1 was his life, and the plan was to stay.

![Dan Istitene/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/08/674409222.jpg)

Alonso was rewarded for his commitment to F1 with his strongest starting position of the season up to that point in Spain. In front of home crowds, he took seventh on the grid, his first appearance in the third part of qualifying in 2017.

Things went downhill during the race, though. He fell back to 11th on the opening lap, and eventually finished 12th. Alonso said after the race he was disappointed with the result, but there was no denying it was a step in the right direction. And now he had Indy to look forward to next.

What could go wrong there?

Honda, of course.

Alonso looked a serious threat for the win in the closing stages of the race. He spent several stints at the front of the field, and was working his way back up through the crowds after strategy dropped him backwards. It was with 21 laps remaining that his Honda engine gave out, forcing him to retire once again.

Back to the day job, and Alonso headed north of the border for the Canadian Grand Prix, where there was a repeat of the Indy disappointment. Alonso worked his way up to 10th after starting 12th, only for his engine to give out in the closing stages.

![Clive Mason/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/08/694158182.jpg)

“I am frustrated, of course, but it’s not only about losing a point today, of course,” Alonso said at the time.

“As a driver, we try to come here and drive as fast as we can, so missing on that point is disappointing especially for the guys who have been working so much day and night, preparing the car, preparing the strategy and taking care of every single detail.”

Not much was expected from the return to Europe for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, one of McLaren’s least competitive circuits where Alonso would be starting 19th due to a grid penalty. But after the race, Alonso was claiming he could have challenged for the win.

Alonso managed to avoid most of the chaos to work his way into the top 10, finishing 10th to score his first point of the season.

“The race really came to us through the many retirements and a lot of action,” he said.

“I managed to stay away from the walls, just brushing them here and there.

“Nevertheless, I think we could have fought for a podium finish today – and perhaps even the victory.”

![Dan Istitene/Getty Images Sport](https://media.readmotorsport.com/readmotorsport/2017/08/800735142.jpg)

After the strong result, Alonso was torpedoed in Austria, hit by Daniil Kvyat on the opening lap and colliding with Max Verstappen. Another mechanical problem caused another retirement the following weekend at Silverstone, though only after he topped the times in the first qualifying session.

Things were looking up at Honda, though.

The team had taken the decision to upgrade Alonso’s engine at Silverstone. It meant another penalty for the swap, but he’d have the more powerful engine for the Hungarian GP, where McLaren expected to be strong.

And strong it was. Both McLaren drivers qualified in the top 10, Alonso P7 alongside Vandoorne. Alonso was able to move forwards on the Sunday, setting the fastest lap on his way to sixth.

With engine power not as important a factor at the Hungaroring, it’s hard to really know whether Honda really has found strong improvements in its new engine or if it’s Hungary performance was a one-off.

Alonso will head into the second half of the season hoping for the former so he can finally put the McLaren-Honda nightmare behind him.