Art of Gears
Fansided

Test Day 2: McLaren-Honda’s MP4-31 Remains Reliable

By Paulo Acoba

MONTMELO, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 23: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren Honda drives during day two of F1 winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya on February 23, 2016 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images)
MONTMELO, SPAIN - FEBRUARY 23: Fernando Alonso of Spain and McLaren Honda drives during day two of F1 winter testing at Circuit de Catalunya on February 23, 2016 in Montmelo, Spain. (Photo by Clive Mason/Getty Images) /
facebooktwitterreddit

Mclaren-Honda’s MP4-31 remained absolutely reliable during second day of testing. 

Update: Test Day 3…MP4-31 Catches Fire

It’s day two of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya and it looks like McLaren-Honda’s MP4-31 has instilled a newfound confidence in both the drivers and the team, According to the official Day two report from Mclaren F1 earlier Tuesday, Fernando Alonso is happy to be back behind the wheel, content with how the car’s been performing. Additionally, McLaren-Honda’s head of Engineering was happy to piggyback off of ‘Nando’s comments reiterating the drama free sessions that have been going on. Honda R&D’s Chief Engineer was also present further saying that he’s pleased with the team’s progress.

McLaren Honda's Spanish driver Fernando Alonso poses for fans at the Circuit de Catalunya on February 23, 2016 in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona on the second test day of the Formula One Grand Prix season. / AFP / JOSE JORDAN (Photo credit should read JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images)
McLaren Honda’s Spanish driver Fernando Alonso poses for fans at the Circuit de Catalunya on February 23, 2016 in Montmelo on the outskirts of Barcelona on the second test day of the Formula One Grand Prix season. / AFP / JOSE JORDAN (Photo credit should read JOSE JORDAN/AFP/Getty Images) /

For Fernando Alonso, rumors have been circulating that if this MP4-31 didn’t drastically improve over last season, he would quit the team. According to Reuters who caught one British bookmaker offering side bets on Fernando Alonso leaving the team as 3-1 and relaying that information to Fernando himself, Nando simply laughed off that bit of information.

"Everything. All week has been some rumours…when there are too many weeks or months with no track action there is a dangerous tendency to be creative on the news. We are on track and hopefully no more rumors."

As for his time in the MP4-31, the Woking team wasn’t out to set any lap records like Mercedes was doing with their W07 (Rosberg put in a whopping 172 laps.) According to Alonso,

More from Art of Gears

"This afternoon we spent some time doing basic set-up work, running through control systems and characterizing the chassis, as a continuation of yesterday’s work with Jenson. We also ran through a number of different engine modes on the power unit to check functionality and integration, which went very smoothly and provided us with useful data. Most of the day was spent running at the harder end of tyre compound scale, so we shouldn’t read too much into the absolute lap times."

We’ve attached a screenshot of what those lap times were. Plus, we’ve added a fan video of how the MP4-31 sounds like.

Photo Credit: McLaren
Photo Credit: McLaren /

While the real story of the had to come from marathon man Nico Rosberg, as far as McLaren-Honda is concerned, no news right now is good news.

More cars: Test Day 1: McLaren-Honda Gaining Confidence With MP4-31

Day 3 commences tomorrow with Jenson Button returning behind the wheel.

Home/Racing