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Aston Martin driver Fernando Alonso has raised serious concerns over the performance of Honda's power unit during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. The Spanish veteran called for a thorough investigation into the engine issues after struggling around the Marina Bay street circuit ahead of an upcoming gruelling triple-header.
The two-time world champion missed out on a spot in Q2 by just half a tenth of a second, but his frustration grew further on Sunday as the power unit inside his AMR26 continued to misbehave.
"There was definitely something in the power unit this weekend that wasn't working as it should," Alonso told reporters. "We need to understand why, because we have some tough races ahead. Next is Mexico with a lot of slow-speed corners, and then potentially Vegas. We must get on top of these issues—both driveability and turbo lag. Those factors cost a massive amount of lap time, and we learned that the hard way."
Asked whether the characteristics of the Singapore circuit were to blame or if it pointed to a genuine deficit in Honda's power unit performance, the Spaniard replied:
"I don't know, we'll have to see. We had no problems at Sepang, and even in Baku—where the first two sectors are very slow and twisty—everything ran smoothly. It seems like it might be specific to this track, but right now I don't have definitive answers."
Beyond the driveability issues, Alonso also struggled significantly with hybrid energy deployment. Honda had previously countered his claims that the turbocharger, which was replaced ahead of the race, was faulty. Both Aston Martin cars were ultimately forced into a pit-lane start.
"I continued to struggle a lot during the race. Maybe a bit less with the turbo, but energy deployment was plagued with issues, especially after the Virtual Safety Car periods," he added. "It felt as if the car didn't know where it was on the track, deploying energy in the wrong places while cutting out on the straights. It was extremely frustrating. On Saturday, though, the turbo was damaged and had to be replaced."
Alonso explained that the deployment flaws were not just confined to the periods following the Virtual Safety Car:
"Every single lap was a struggle. During the first Virtual Safety Car, I had an opportunity to pass Sergio Perez, but instead of making the overtake, I lost a position to Isack Hadjar. Then, during the final restart, I lost about two seconds. Overall, the car's handling was good, especially during the opening stint on the soft tyres where we were competitive. But whenever we found ourselves behind Checo or anyone else, we were dropping two to three hundred metres down every straight, which made the battle impossible."
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