Fernando Alonso could only complete one lap in Mexico
Races follow one another and are similar for McLaren: hampered by a new problem with his engine, Fernando Alonso retired in the first lap. Jenson Button had to compensate for his power deficit on the straights and could not do better than 14th.
The high altitude of Mexico hindered all the teams since the lack of air reduced the power of the engines accordingly. But it seems that the impact was even greater for the Honda power unit: Jenson Button could do nothing in the very long pit straight: “The other cars were really faster than us on the straight,” lamented the Englishman after the race.
But the 2009 world champion continues to communicate positively by highlighting the qualities of his chassis in the winding sections: « On the positive side, compared to the other midfield cars, we were faster in the last sector. They overtook us on the straights, but we caught up with them in the final corners. »
Fernando Alonso cannot say the same as he only completed one lap of the Mexican circuit due to an identified problem with his engine: “We had an MGU-H speed issue that we identified last night and unfortunately it was confirmed this morning. We didn’t have enough time to replace it. So we had two options: to race or not to race. We preferred the first option and tried everything we could, out of respect for the extraordinary fans in Mexico. I really wanted to get on the grid, start the race, and see what happened.”
Nevertheless, faced with the inevitable outcome of a race with such a handicap, his engineer called him back to the pit at the end of the first lap to avoid further damage to the rest of the car.
