Alonso delivers savage 'GP2 engine'-style verdict on Honda in unheard radio message
Photo: Race Pictures
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Tobia is a Formula 1 journalist at GPblog with experience at international circuits. Since 2022, he has covered Grands Prix across Europe, delivering reliable coverage and insights from the paddock.
Fernando Alonso vented his frustration with Honda's power unit over team radio after Aston Martin endured another difficult weekend in Singapore, with the team plagued by technical problems.
Singapore was one of the few circuits where Aston Martin could realistically hope to challenge for a top-10 finish and fight for points, particularly after Alonso's impressive eighth-place finish in Malaysia just a week earlier. This time, however, the team was unable to repeat that result.
Both drivers were forced to start from the pit lane following changes to their cars, including the replacement of multiple components and suspension modifications. Stroll eventually retired from the race, while Alonso could only manage 16th place, finishing a lap down.
A particularly frustrating moment came when Alonso found himself losing ground to a Cadillac, with a Red Bull also comfortably overtaking him. The Spaniard made his feelings about Honda's power unit clear in a radio message that was not aired on the international broadcast, sarcastically laughing before remarking: "Energy. It’s so ridiculous this engine."
Speaking to GPblog after the race, the two-time world champion offered further insight into the technical difficulties that had hampered Aston Martin throughout the Singapore Grand Prix weekend. Alonso explained that the Honda power unit had not been performing as expected, with several issues affecting the car's behaviour and costing the team valuable lap time.
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Photo: Race Pictures
The Spaniard also stressed the importance of identifying the causes of these problems, particularly with several demanding races still to come. With Austin next on the calendar and Mexico and Las Vegas among the upcoming events, Alonso highlighted concerns over drivability and turbo lag, two areas that had proved particularly troublesome in Singapore.
"I think there is something on the power unit that is not performing as it should do this weekend. And we need to understand why because, obviously, there are a couple of tough races coming. Mexico will be the next one with very slow-speed corners. Maybe Vegas and some other street circuits.
"We need to get on top of the issues, drivability, turbo lag. There are a couple of things that are costing us a lot of time, and we discovered the hard way this weekend."
Alonso then went into further detail about the issues he encountered during the race, revealing that the power unit's energy deployment had been particularly problematic after the Virtual Safety Car period.
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The Spaniard explained that the system was delivering power in the wrong sections of the circuit, leaving him without the additional energy he needed on the straights. He also pointed to a separate turbo failure the previous day, which had forced Aston Martin to replace the component.
"There were a lot of problems with deployment, especially after the Virtual Safety Car. I think the car didn't know exactly where I was on the lap because I was deploying in different places that I didn't need, and I was not deploying on the straights. So it was quite frustrating. But yesterday, the turbo was broken, I had to change it."
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