Alonso goes for Spec-3 at Silverstone but with penalties

Fernando Alonso Silverstone
© XPB 

Fernando Alonso will be powered this weekend by Honda's upgraded Spec-3 power unit but will take a grid penalty because of a component change.

The McLaren driver ran the new engine in Austria but was forced to revert to Honda's previous spec after an issue was found on the unit's MGU-H

The installation of fifth energy store on the engine however will lead to a five-place grid penalty with additional demotions unavoidable if Honda makes additional element changes.

The latter could be seen as tactical however given McLaren-Honda's low prospects on the high-speed power track, leaving the team to approach the more favourable Hungarian GP with less chances of incurring penalties.

The incriminated MGU-H component as been sent back to Japan for analysis but without time in hand to apply a fix given the Austrian and British back-to-back races.

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