Honda: no evidence of Alonso engine problem

We saw a very frustrated Alonso Saturday and Sunday...I think it's because he knows that Ferrari's doors are completely closed now.

 

It sucks for everyone at McHonda.......deplorable all the way around.

 

Possibly.

I rather think it's Alonso and McL trying to discredit Honda even further. Alonso always blames the engine (The same old "No power! No power!" song all over again), but never blames the chassis, or the brakes...

 

The cars was slow, period. He was getting passed left and right. Out of the points, out of the race.

 

Pretty clear 1 nut was coming undone...

 

I remember Ayrton Senna once complaining about a strange vibration coming from the engine of his car during one of the free practice sessions, only for the Honda engineers to tell him they could not detect any faults being present.

After another lap or two, Senna came into the pits and told the Honda engineers that there was something not right with the engine, to which they argued that there was nothing wrong with it.

Senna refused to run it any more, telling the Honda guys that there was something wrong with the engine, and that they needed to strip it down.

The Honda guys were not convinced, and so decided to strip the engine to prove Senna wrong.

Once they had the engine apart, they discovered a hairline fracture in one of the camshafts that did not show up as a fault on any of their sensors - Senna detected it though!


In Fernando's case though, I suspect he simply got fed up of the car being so dog slow and being humiliated by all and sundry who were overtaking him.

Yes he's paid to drive the car, but if you're out of the points and heading to the back of the pack fast - What's the point?

(And if you think Fernando is the first driver to park up a car who's only issue is that it is dog-slow, then you must be very naive!)

 

This doesn't bode well for the future relationship between Alonso and Honda.

Honda may well turn to McLaren and say that the real problem is their driver.

Surely after such public display of incompetence at Honda and frustration from Alonso, the wheels will come off before long.

When questioned by the journalists, Zak Brown made again a PR-loaded comment during the TV broadcast, saying that they are not where they wish to be, and that their aim was to provide a "winning car". Those are more platitudes that don't convince anyone, I am pretty sure.

 

Honda supplies millions of dollars to McLaren, supplies them with a power unit and has delivered 3 years of empty promises. The money is good and the power unit is ****. No credibility beyond the $, end of story.

 

+1

I remember Mcnish telling a similar story, how his Toyota chassis was wrong and he insisted on a new one. The engineers couldn't detect anything and insisted the chassis was fine. After a few weekends he finally got his wish and was immediately a few tenths quicker. They then tore the chassis down and found a hairline fracture, undetected by the sensors....

 

General opinion from the sky f1 guys is that the McLaren car itself is 1 of the best on the track, considering the lack of top speed it just shows how well the drivers are doing to get it so far up the grid.

With the best handling car in the world you are not going to win with an underpowered engine on a circuit needing full power for 70% of the lap

 

+1

I read somewhere (but can't remember exactly where) that GPS data revealed the McL to be very competitive in corners (both slow and fast).

 

Next time Alonso will make sure he'll crash the car as he did in his first test back with mclaren

 

Can't blame Alonso so much, getting blown off on the straights!

 

3 seasons of BS from Honda. With Renault power they would at least be on par with RBR.

 

Probably a smart move. Points were not happening in spite of his brilliant driving at the start. Now since it "retired" they can change some components without penalty

 

Crashing the car wont get Alonso what he wants as it will just look like he couldn't drive the car.

Look at Alonso's race in Spa:

On the first couple of laps when the tyres are cold and the car's are heavy with fuel, he was able to use his driving skill to have a short bit of fun and try to race people such as Hulkenberg.

Then the tyres all came up to temperature and the McLaren's deficits that Alonso cannot make up for, came out, and he started going backwards, being overtaken by all and sundry.

Publicly on the radio he was shouting:

"NO POWER!......NO POWER!"

and:

"EMBARRASSING!........THIS IS SO EMBARRASSING!"

Followed by:

"Don't bother telling me the gaps!.......I don't care!.......this is just a test!"

All three statements were to emphasis that his issue was purely down to Honda, and not McLaren.

By retiring the car, he was publicly demonstrating that the Honda power-unit is, in his opinion, not worthy of either himself or McLaren.

Look at all of the press statements he's made where he has said that with a different power-unit in the car, McLaren would be leading the Championships, basically saying that the chassis is great, but the power unit is s:censored:t!

This is all about Alonso putting pressure on McLaren to ditch Honda and get another manufacturers engine in the car.

Basically, Alonso is telling the team: It's Me or Honda - choose!"

If McLaren announce that they are sticking with Honda for 2018, then My monies on Alonso walking out on the team (and going straight to Williams! )

If McLaren (somehow) manage to get Mercedes or Ferrari power-units, then he will re-sign without batting an eyelid!

If they get Renault power-units, then I think he will re-sign, but will have a performance clause that will allow him to walk away mid-season if the power-unit is lacking performance/reliability or both.

Right now, McLaren are trying to work out which is more important to them: Alonso's skills, or Honda's money and free engines.

They know that with a Mercedes/Ferrari power-unit and Alonso on board, they will be basically back in business.

With Honda power-units and no Alonso in the car, chances are they will be going nowhere fast.

The big problem is, neither Mercedes or Ferrari have any interest in supplying them right now (and Renault seem to be just as unwilling).

TBH, I'd be amazed if McLaren aren't desperately trying to convince Mercedes (and possibly Ferrari), behind the scenes, to supply them with power-units, and that will be what is delaying Alonso's decision.

 

yep

 

Personally, I think this is going to be a Red Bull/Renault all over again. A ton of **** talking that goes absolutely nowhere. Alonso will be at McLaren next year and McLaren will be powered by a Honda.

 

Exactly.

 

This is exactly what I've been thinking all season.

However . . . . I'm starting to lose faith.

Can you imagine the humiliation in Japan if they (Honda) were outright rejected by everyone in the F1 Paddock?

 

I felt bad for Alonzo, it probably was for the best just to retire from the race. I think it was a smart move all the way around. Why stay on the track when you are as frustrated as he was. You become a danger to yourself as well as others on the track. Now they can work on it yet again...........

 

Can you imagine the humiliation in Japan right now for Honda?

After three years of being in F1, their power-units are still under-powered, are incredibly unreliable, and are causing the company a public embarrassment at just about every single race in the season still!

For a company that prides itself of being at the forefront of technology, Honda may well be happy to have the chance to just walk away from F1, because right now, it's a weekly PR disaster for them, and it's costing them @ $200 Million + per year at the same time!

 

You're probably right. It just pains me after all my years at Acura to see it come down to that.