Fernando Alonso was restricted to just three installation laps on the final day of the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya as a coolant leak on his McLaren-Honda saw a day spent in the garage.
Despite being a relatively minor problem, the fix required a complete strip down of the engine that took the majority of the day to rectify, with the team deciding to end the test prematurely so to investigate the issue properly ahead of the second test next week.
Alonso was naturally disappointed not to have been able to complete any running on Thursday in front of his home crowd, but admitted he was happy with the amount of laps McLaren were able to complete over the four days in Spain.
“Today was disappointing after starting the first couple of days of the test so positively,” said Alonso. “Still, it’s good news that although the issue we had on the car meant we had to miss a lot of today’s running, it’s not a major problem and will be fixed in time for next week’s test.
“Overall, we’ve managed a good number of laps during this test, which means we have a lot of data to analyse and learn from. Over the weekend we’ll work hard to get everything prepared for next week, with the aim of getting as much time on track as possible.”
