Given the underwhelming performance of McLaren-Honda, Fernando Alonso frequently outdrives his car, as was evident by his recording the fastest lap of the Formula One Hungarian Grand Prix. The start of his qualifying lap Saturday at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, however, was so good that his car literally couldn’t keep up.
Alonso was forced to abandon his flying lap during Q2 for the Belgian Grand Prix after his power unit malfunctioned, an issue Honda claims was caused by his taking Poulhon corner — the high-speed double-left-hander that combines Turns 10 and 11 — flat-out, according to Motorsport.com. Thanks to a tow in Sector 1 from his teammate Stoffel Vandoorne, Alonso was on pace to advance to Q3, but complained of a loss of power coming out of Turn 11.
The Japanese manufacturer’s power unit reportedly determines when the car has taken a corner based on the driver’s throttle inputs. When they lift-off, the electronic control unit (ECU) knows it’s cornering, and it then deploys its electrical power — roughly 160 horsepower — when they get back on the power.
“We set a segment to when we have the deployment, and normally that segment is divided by the throttle, Honda power unit technical chief, Yusuke Hasegawa, told Motorsport.com.
“Sometimes a driver is making a different operation, so that makes the system confused and we didn’t have deployment at some certain area.”
By keeping the right pedal floored through Poulhon, Alonso confused the ECU into thinking the car was still on the straight between Turns 9 and 10. As a result, the car didn’t accelerate out of Turn 11 the way it should have.
Hasegawa reportedly said Honda is reworking the software so it doesn’t encounter another situation like this.
Although the two-time world champion would have preferred his Q2 lap wasn’t ruined by this quirk, the fact that it was is the latest instance of Alonso shedding light on just how much the MCL32 is holding him back.
Thumbnail photo via Honda Racing
