Will Alonso finally have his McLaren ready in Barcelona?

This will be the third season Alonso will race in defence of the colours of McLaren in his second spell at McLaren. A new GP he attends with the doubt of whether the dream car will finally be the one the British team will provide him this coming weekend in the paddock at the Montmeló circuit.

McLaren arrives at the Spanish GP with a large number of new parts and modifications compared with the previous GPs held so far this season. Changes that, in addition to the logical modifications for the start of the “European leg” of this calendar, have been introduced following the results of the first tests of the season and the modifications devised on the fly at the opening rounds of this championship.

We will have many new parts in Montmeló, but we are not the only team that will have important innovations on their cars. Practically all of them are arriving with new things; what matters is seeing how ours perform and whether they will really allow us to make the leap in performance we have been waiting so long for

The McLaren Alonso will have at the Circuit de Catalunya will feature a new front end, with a completely redesigned nose and front wing, new deflectors, and a completely new floor and diffuser. Changes that will notably affect the car’s look and complete its adaptation to the new Renault engine it runs this season. In a way, it is almost a completely new car, perhaps the one it should have had for the pre-season tests, and whose introduction was delayed until it passed the FIA safety tests, which it successfully completed on 11 April.

The definitive performance these variations can deliver is yet to be seen. With the modest performance gains introduced by Renault in the mechanics and the power improvements the new fuel formulation will bring already in Montmeló, the expectations at McLaren are to place the car in the group of the top four in terms of top speed, although the members of the “army” that makes up the British team have clearly opted for a restrained policy when it comes to commenting on this. So plenty of enthusiasm, but few words for now.

Basically, in Barcelona we will be able to check the efficiency of the aerodynamic upgrades introduced, especially at the front of the car, while to appreciate the result of the mechanical improvements Renault has introduced we will have to wait for the Canadian GP. Between these two Grands Prix the results of the work of the two engineering teams that have worked through the winter at the McLaren factory developing all the parts should become visible.

The result that the new McLaren nose delivers will be of vital importance, since the overall behaviour of the car will depend on it. So, will Alonso finally have the car he has waited so long for? We will keep our fingers crossed once again. And here we go…