Honda confirm engine change for Fernando Alonso ahead of British Grand Prix

Fernando Alonso at the inaugration of the Fernando Alonso museum while seated on th McLaren MP4-30

Every team in the Formula 1 is allowed to use only four engine units for the entire season. Crossing the limit, the driver and team is slapped with a 10 place grid penalty which can be quite costly when it comes to grabbing championship points. Honda told Sky Sports that they would be changing the engine for Fernando Alonso’s car ahead of the British Grand Prix.

Despite the confirmed engine change, Alonso will not lose any spots on the starting line-up as McLaren are all set to insert an already used engine into the car. Using components already used earlier in the season allows Alonso to escape the penalty. For the previous race in Austria at the Red Bull Ring, both Alonso and his teammate Jenson Button were handed 25 place grid penalties after they fitted their cars with their fifth engine of the season.

"In Spielberg, Fernando was involved in an accident on the first lap of the race, and Jenson had a sensor failure issue. As a result, both cars were forced to retire. We have since completed thorough checks of both power units back at the factory, and we believe that Fernando's power unit has sustained damage from the accident, and it may be necessary to change the engine,” Honda boss Yasuhisa Arai confirmed.“As for Jenson's power unit this weekend, the issue is still under investigation.”

Despite the team scoring points in just one race out of the six and having the weakest engine power unit among the four being used, Alonso and Jenson Button have repeatedly stated their trust and belief in the McLaren-Honda partnership, one that dominated the spot two decades ago.

Alonso had no engine problems in Austria yet still has to change to a previous engine after the power unit of the previous unit suffered damage during his Lap 1 collision with Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen. Here’s the clip of the accident: