After Honda confirmed to the press after the Spa Francorchamps race last Sunday afternoon that there was nothing wrong with the engine in Fernando Alonso's McLaren, questions were being asked as to why the Spaniard retired a healthy car.
The last thing Alonso was heard to ask over the team radio was if there was any chance of rain and after he was told no, suddenly he was pulling into the pits to retire.
The car appeared healthy, if not way down on power, and Alonso was definitely annoyed with how other cars were passing him on the straights as if he was standing still, so therefore it was reported that he retired out of frustration and not because the car couldn't continue.
When asked about this in the Monza paddock on Thursday, Fernando stated that he was surprised to read those reports as there were problems with the cars power unit and he simp0ly retired it before it blew up on track.
“I had a few issues on the power unit, in the three or four laps before the retirement. I had this a couple of times before where some sensors starting failing, some things started feeling wrong and it went immediately to engine blow-up,” he was quoted as saying.
“This time, after having those first problems, we retired the car and they checked the whole engine. It seems everything is fine on the look they did. We will try to fit that engine tomorrow in FP2. If it blows up we will change it, obviously. If it keeps holding, probably we keep using it."
Alonso did confirm however that the team will be changing his engine to the new upgraded power unit ahead of the opening free practice sessions on Friday meaning he will suffer grid penalties in Monza just as his teammate did in Belgium.
