McLaren-Honda’s Fernando Alonso has taken a step towards receiving grid penalties after having to take on new components at the Spanish Grand Prix.
Alonso stopped on track during his out lap in the first session at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya and Honda confirmed that an oil leak was the reason behind his MCL32 halting after just two corners.
McLaren-Honda fitted a new power unit, aside from the Energy Store and Control Electronics, during the lunch break, meaning he is now just one step away from a grid drop.
Alonso is on to his fourth Turbocharger and MGU-H of the campaign, with drivers receiving grid penalties if they use a fifth version of any of the six power unit elements.
Drivers are handed a 10-place penalty on the first occasion a fifth version of any element is used, with five-place drops following for any further changes, the process repeating for a sixth version, and so on.
Team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne received his first grid penalty of the campaign at the preceding event in Russia after exceeding his allocation after an array of problems.
If Alonso’s engine allocation is exceeded during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend, it would lead to stand-in Jenson Button taking a grid drop, for the power unit elements apply per entry, not per driver.
Alonso, who finished at the foot of the times in the second session, commenting “the engine feels much slower than before, amazing,” has not finished a race in 2017.
