F1 Testing

Just John wrote:Hearing that it's a right mess at Honda. Incompetent. Quite clear it's got severe power issues again & it's even more unrealiable, which is just embarrassing. They even got rid of that French engine expert Gilles Simon this week. I actually believe McLaren will be calling the back-row of the grid their home for the majority of the season, it's looking that bad.

Just John wrote:Hearing that it's a right mess at Honda. Incompetent. Quite clear it's got severe power issues again & it's even more unrealiable, which is just embarrassing. They even got rid of that French engine expert Gilles Simon this week. I actually believe McLaren will be calling the back-row of the grid their home for the majority of the season, it's looking that bad.

Jermaine2015 wrote:

Just John wrote:Hearing that it's a right mess at Honda. Incompetent. Quite clear it's got severe power issues again & it's even more unrealiable, which is just embarrassing. They even got rid of that French engine expert Gilles Simon this week. I actually believe McLaren will be calling the back-row of the grid their home for the majority of the season, it's looking that bad.

Alonso will quit and leave F1 before mid season. That's where my money is.

And with his contract expiring at the end of the season, the 35-year-old could easily have sealed a move away from McLaren by the summer.

"My future is not my priority right now," Alonso said when questioned about his expiring contract during testing.

"I live in the present and try to enjoy myself as much as I can right now.

"I am driving at my best and I'm enjoying attacking the corners quite fast.

"I feel I'm the best driver out there."

However, he failed to hide his displeasure at the performance of the car and specifically the Honda element.

"We just need an engine that can run as quick as the others on the straight," Alonso added.

"We have only one problem which is the power unit.

"There is no reliability and there is no power."

McLaren’s long-term partnership with Honda is under threat as the Woking team could sever their relationship at the end of this season using a break clause.

Engine changes, closing in on double figures, coupled with more breakdowns than any other team meant McLaren covered the least number of laps in this year's pre-season testing.

The Woking team managed just 425 laps, down on their 710 from 2016, and less than half of what Mercedes, at 1096 laps, achieved this year.

Reliability, though, is not the only concern.

The Honda engine is also lacking in power with only Sauber, who are running a 2016 engine, slower in testing.

"I don't think we are too far back with the chassis, we have only one problem which is the power unit," was Alonso's assessment. "There is no reliability and there is no power. We are 30kph down on the straight."

McLaren's pre-season form had led to speculation that they could severe ties with Honda with the DailyMail reporting that it could happen at the end of this season.

"McLaren have a long-term partnership with Honda, until 2024, but it is understood there are break clauses on both sides," reads the report. "If McLaren wish to cut free, they could do so at the end of the year.

"Similarly, if Honda feels their problems are causing more loss of face than they can endure, they too could sever ties. That doomsday scenario is one both partners want to avoid, with each publicly committing themselves to one another."