Veteran driver Fernando Alonso previously claimed that the turbocharger within his power unit was broken during the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, forcing Aston Martin to hastily swap out components on his AMR26 charger before lights out at the Marina Bay Street Circuit.
However, Japanese manufacturer Honda firmly rejected those assertions. Shintaro Orihara, the chief trackside engineer for the engine supplier, insisted that post-session analysis of the telemetry data did not reveal any severe hardware failures on the Spaniard's qualifying specification power unit.
"It was not broken, but we decided to change the components based on Fernando’s feedback," Shintaro Orihara told media including Motorsport Week when clarifying the dramatic garage intervention. "On the data, we still haven’t seen any big issues, but again, the driver is the best sensor, and so we decided to change the unit based on this comment."
The hasty replacement forced the 45-year-old veteran to take a grid drop penalty, severely compromising his race strategy. Despite fielding their latest ADUO-2 spec engine, the Silverstone-based outfit's star struggled for pace throughout the 62-lap encounter, ultimately crossing the finish line down in a disappointing 16th place.
Looking ahead to the upcoming round at the Circuit of the Americas, the power unit supplier has pledged to ensure all internal systems operate without fault. "We fortunately have two weeks, so we will check everything to make sure our components are working correctly," Orihara concluded, highlighting upcoming fine-tuning sessions focused on drivability and boost management.
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