Fernando Alonso says it is likely that he will need to improvise during Sunday’s Chinese Grand Prix, with conditions likely to be completely different to what everyone experienced during practice on Friday.
The Spaniard and McLaren F1 Team team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne spent a lot of time testing new parts and the tyres around the Shanghai International Circuit, with Alonso ending up twelfth fastest in the morning session before improving to tenth in the afternoon.
With unsettled weather set to hit the track on Saturday, the brief spell at the end of the afternoon session gave Alonso a chance to test the intermediate tyre, but with Sunday expected to be dry once more but with more sun and a change of direction of wind, the Spaniard feels a lot will depend on how drivers react to the conditions in order to maximise their potential.
“The first session today was primarily spent testing some new parts we have on the car, while in the second session we focussed on the tyres,” said Alonso. “Since the degradation here is quite high, especially on the front tyres, it was important for Stoffel and me to test both compounds.
“We also managed to check the car in wet conditions, on Inter tyres, even though it was only for a few minutes at the end of the session. It’s always good to have an idea of engine mapping and everything else, which is different in the wet.
“We’re expecting good weather for the race – dry, sunny and wind blowing in a different direction – therefore not very similar conditions to today, so on Sunday we’ll need to improvise.
“We completed all the items on our programme and now we need to go through all the data and find performance for tomorrow.”
