One of the many F1 World Cup stories that did not have a happy ending was that of Fernando Alonso, starring McLaren and Honda. The Spaniard decided to leave Ferrari at the end of 2014 to move to Woking for the second time in his racing career.
An alliance where the great objective was to win the championship of drivers and teams, which at DAZN, we want to remember through this article.
What did Fernando Alonso do with Honda in the F1 World Championship?
“I would say that in the 20 years I’ve been in Formula 1, I’ve only had three disappointing years at McLaren-Honda that weren’t competitive,” Fernando Alonso admitted after confirming pre-season tests in Bahrain. Aston Martin was going to be allowed to fight for the podium.
Because McLaren’s reliability was a real nightmare. Overall, Alonso accumulated 23 retirements in the 57 races that came into conflict with the Anglo-Japanese team. In fact, one of these 23 retirements that fans of the ‘Grand Circus’ remember best happened before the start of the 2017 Russian Grand Prix, when the two-time champion’s MP4-32’s gearbox broke in the middle of the formation lap. Said enough. ,
Two major accidents with Honda
However, beyond the many breakdowns suffered by the two-time champion, Fernando Alonso’s stint with Honda is best remembered for the two serious crashes that occurred behind the wheel of the McLaren. The first occurred in the 2015 pre-season in Barcelona and caused him to miss the Australian Grand Prix.
There was a second on the Melbourne track just the following year, when Esteban Gutierrez’s Haas touched the rear and rolled several times before hitting safety while trying to overtake the Mexican. The result was a broken rib which caused him to miss the Bahrain Grand Prix.
Three fifth places with Honda
As we mentioned at the beginning of the article, the goal of McLaren Honda and Fernando Alonso was to win the world championship for drivers and teams. However, the reality was quite different, as in the 57 races the union ran, Astur could not exceed fifth place as a best result at the 2015 Hungarian Grand Prix, 2016 Monaco and 2017 United States.
And if we talk about fast laps, Fernando Alonso has got only one lap in three years. No one was quicker than the man from Oviedo at the 2017 Hungarian Grand Prix, where he also achieved the best position of the season in sixth, seeing him to the checkered flag.
Two companions with Honda
During his stay at Woking, Alonso shared a garage with two teammates: Jenson Button and Stoffel Vandoorne. He spent two years with the British (2015 and 2016), where together they suffered from the car’s lack of competitiveness, missing one of the championship moments after finishing in Q1 at the 2015 Interlagos podium in Brazil. Gave. Grand Prix.
For his part, he spent a difficult year with the Belgian (2017) and perhaps the worst of three seasons with Honda, as Japanese engineers decided to make a 180º turn for their project in Formula 1 and the power unit turned out to be grille. Weakest in terms of reliability and power. A situation that led those responsible for McLaren to decide to break their agreement with Honda at the end of this edition.
How many years was Fernando Alonso at McLaren Honda?
Fernando Alonso spent three seasons driving for McLaren Honda. This was his position in the Drivers’ World Championship.
Season F1 World Cup Results 2015 17th (11 points) 2016 10th (54 points) 2017 15th (17 points)
How was Fernando Alonso’s car at McLaren and how did the Honda engine work?
Fernando Alonso drove three different cars during his time at McLaren Honda, from 2015 to 2017. The MP4-30 was the first of this trio. Designed by Tim Goss and Peter Prodromou, the power unit driving it had an internal code of RA615H.
The MP4-31 was the second machine for Alonso to ride. Also designed by Gauss and Prodromou, it is considered the best single-seater of this phase, as the RA616H engine marked a step forward in reliability and power.
Finally, the MCL32 was the third and last car driven by Fernando Alonso. The duo of Tim Goss and Peter Prodromo returned to the design area at the Woking factory to create a car that reverted to McLaren’s classic Papaya Orange and suffered a number of hiccups largely due to the RA617H engine architecture.
