Aston Martin should stop chasing Alonso's turbo faults and fix the car
Honda found no turbo fault after Fernando Alonso's pitlane start in Singapore. Aston Martin's bigger problem is the updated car.
Fernando Alonso said his turbo was "broken" in Singapore, after yet another Q1 exit. Aston Martin took him at his word and started him from the pitlane on fresh components. Honda then went looking for the fault and, as The Race reports, "could find no evidence of a turbo problem on the engine, beyond Alonso's diagnosis".
It isn't the first time Alonso has doubted his engine. In Azerbaijan, his furious team radio while battling the usually slower Cadillac of Valtteri Bottas made it clear he wasn't happy with his Honda engine's performance that weekend. Aston Martin trackside chief Mike Krack later suggested that the tow from following the Cadillac, combined with the extra boost from overtake mode being active, might have made Alonso feel there was a problem with the engine.
Honda's "best sensor" line is a get-out
Honda's answer has been to describe the driver as "the best sensor" inside the car. There's something in that. Drivers sometimes detect problems that engineers don't pick up at first. Former Williams technical director Patrick Head said in 2005 that the team's new signing, Nick Heidfeld, had found problems with the BMW engine's management system that Williams had been "carrying for two years without anyone pointing it out".
That hasn't happened in Alonso's case. No fault has turned up. Calling him the best sensor lets Honda avoid saying he's wrong, and it leaves Aston Martin spending race weekends on a hunt that keeps coming back empty.
What the updated car actually does well
The updated Aston Martin is closer than ever to the weight limit, thanks to lighter components at the rear, and it runs Honda's spec-2 engine. In Azerbaijan it was working well up to and including the castle section.
Its best performance of the season came in Malaysia. There, the rough track surface and overheating tyres robbed every car of grip. That stretched out the slow corners and off-throttle moments where the Aston Martin is relatively more competitive.
Why the car has to come first
That's the real worry. The Race calls this the most troublesome car on the grid this season, and its best day came when the conditions dragged everyone else down towards it. A track that slows the whole field flatters a car like this. It doesn't fix it.
A car that needs slow, slippery tracks to look good won't be cured by another set of fresh engine parts. Aston Martin should stop chasing turbo faults Honda can't find. The team's problem is the car, and the fix has to start there.
