McLaren claim progress in slow corners
Having endured a point-less Mexican Grand Prix, McLaren Honda still found ways to be optimistic as it claims the circuit has proved the team is making progress in the slower corners.
The race obviously didn't start off well for the team, as Fernando Alonso had to retire after just a single lap.
“Sadly, we knew before today’s race had even begun that Fernando almost certainly wouldn’t be able to finish it", said Eric Boullier, the team's Racing director.
“Our problem was that the rotational sensor inside the MGU-H on his car had become unstable yesterday evening. It was therefore always going to be unlikely that he would be able to complete many laps this afternoon, but he vehemently wanted to try to do so because he’s an out-and-out racer and because he was extremely keen to put on a good show for the spectators."
The positive twist of the weekend came from Jenson Button, who managed to finish, but also reported he was able to keep up with others through the slower sections.
"As we’ve said throughout the weekend, this circuit doesn’t suit our car’s performance envelope, so we were never going to be able to trouble the scorers here.
"Having said that, there are silver linings to today’s cloud. On the twisty bits Jenson reported that he was able to stay with many of the faster cars as they lapped him, and our data bears that out. So we’re making progress, and we remain steadfast in our ambition to improve. Honda shares that determination, 100 percent."
Honda's Chief Officier of Motorsport, Yasuhisa Arai remained silent on any claims of progress, and admitted that Honda's primary aim is to look into the sensor failure first.
"We discovered his car had an unnervingly unstable MGU-H rotational sensor. We sent the car to the grid and Fernando has a good start, but the afflicted sensor immediately went into fail mode, therefore we had to retire the car.
"We must however say thanks to Fernando for running solidly throughout the weekend, making the set-up of both cars possible for the race.
“For Brazil, we will first fully analyse what has happened with the sensor issues this weekend, and then prepare for the race ahead."
