Fernando Alonso has been dealt with a serious blow just before the start of the Austrian GP, as he will now have to start from the pit lane, following a front wing change for race day.
Alonso had qualified in 13th position and would have been in the fore for some points, but that looks highly unlikely now after this penalty.
Alonso had broken his front wing during Q2, when he ran over the yellow kerb, causing significant damage to his car.
At the end of qualifying, Alonso felt that he was okay with the number of front wings that he had, but he has now been served with this penalty as McLaren have replaced his front wing and pitot static tube in Alonso’s MCL33.
The changes done to Alonso’s car are not in accordance with the parc ferme regulations and hence Alonso will be forced to start the race from the pitlane.
However, McLaren are now going to fit Alonso’s car with Renault’s new MGU-K, which they were earlier not going to use as it would have resulted in a grid penalty.
But now with Alonso anyway starting from the pitlane, it seems like the correct time to get in that new MGU-K.
While McLaren and Alonso have registered decent points this season, off late their performance and reliability has taken a hit, causing a lot of unrest in the McLaren camp.
To top it all off, the McLaren staff to is revolting against the top management, something that has caused a massive upheaval in the overall functioning of the team.
We’ll have to wait and see if Alonso is able to pull off a miracle in Austria today
