Fernando Alonso will drop a minimum of five places on the grid for Sunday’s British Grand Prix, as the Spaniard will use new Honda engine components.
The Japanese manufacturer brought a new ‘Spec 3’ unit to the last race in Austria but Alonso was forced to switch back to an older engine after Friday due to an MGU-H issue.
Now, to allow the double world champion to run the more powerful engine again, a new battery will be fitted with the MGU-H used in qualifying and the race but it will be the fifth battery used this season thus incurring the five-place penalty.
The reason for using the older spec hybrid unit is due to the one that failed on Friday currently being fixed at Honda’s factory back in Japan without enough time between the back-to-back races for it to be ready in time.
With a penalty already in place, it is thought Honda may decide to add yet more new parts thus resulting in starting at the back of the grid to avoid another drop in Hungary, where the much higher need for downforce over power is likely to offer McLaren their best chance for more points.
Currently the British team sit bottom of the Constructors’ standings with only Alonso’s two points from Baku to show from the first nine races.
