Fernando Alonso criticises Honda after Zandvoort debacle (22nd): “The engine is to blame”

The glass is half full: Honda finally has an improved version of the power unit in use at Zandvoort.

The glass is half empty: according to Aston Martin superstar Fernando Alonso, it is precisely this improved engine that is the reason why the Spaniard has to start the sprint on 22 August from the back of the grid.

The two-time Formula 1 world champion explains it as follows: “In free practice, things went reasonably well (Fernando in P12, M.B.). But in the sprint qualifying session, we had problems with the power unit’s responsiveness.”

“To be precise, the engine kept revving when braking into the corners, so it wasn’t that easy to approach the corners correctly. On top of that, I couldn’t activate what’s known as Straight Line Mode, which is when we lower the wings on the straights.”

“And the combination of these two factors meant that driving was quite tricky.”

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Presumably, the 32-time GP winner realised at this point that Honda wasn’t coming off too well here, so the Asturian added: “But don’t forget – it felt encouraging in free practice; that really is a step forward.”

“We’re still right at the beginning with this new engine version, and some things aren’t quite there yet. It’s a bit of a blow that we’ve got a sprint weekend; there isn’t much time for fine-tuning. If we’d had a normal schedule here – with three free practice sessions – we’d probably have sorted it out. We still need to understand a few things better.”