The wheel fell off... but it’s looking up for Alonso
JUST as Fernando Alonso thought McLaren had turned a corner, the wheels came off. Or, more precisely, the right rear wheel detached itself from his car after just six laps of pre-season testing, and the double world champion spun into the gravel trap at 100mph. After three desperately disappointing years at McLaren, 2018 is meant to herald a new dawn after Britain’s most successful grand prix team switched from Honda to Renault engines. And then this. Cue embarrassment. The Spaniard climbed out of the cockpit unscathed and stared quizzically at the offending part. The season’s first session was only 37 minutes old. As Alonso trudged back to the team’s mobile headquarters in the paddock, his rivals clocked up mile after mile of valuable data ahead of the opening race in Melbourne on March 25. Alonso returned to the fray just before lunch at the Circuit de Catalunya during a rain-interrupted afternoon session. But his 51 laps were dwarfed by the day’s most prolific runner, Daniel Ricciardo, who managed 105 circuits for Red Bull and set the fastest time. Valtteri Bottas, who was second quickest, and his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton completed a combined 83 laps. Ferrari’s Kimi Raikkonen was third best, although precise times mean little at this preparatory stage, especially in such cold conditions. Despite Alonso’s skid, he had already accumulated more early-morning action than on day one last year, when his Honda-powered machine gave up on him on the first lap. The die for a miserable 2017 was cast there and then. Yesterday was different. There was nothing seriously wrong — just a failed wheel nut. So Alonso was upbeat when his day was over. ‘It was a very, very small problem but very graphic and obvious,’ said the 36-year-old, who extended his McLaren deal last October. ‘There were six teams in the garage with big trouble but their doors were shut and nobody could see their cars in pieces. So the wheel nut turned into the story of the day. ‘Missing some laps was no big handicap. We never planned on doing much more this morning. I did more laps than anyone else in the afternoon and other people had the problems.’ Addressing the new Renault engine, which McLaren hope can deliver the team’s first victory since 2012, Alonso said: ‘So far, so good.’