F1: Honda couldn't salvage Alonso's engine

Honda has confirmed it is to replace the entire power unit in Fernando Alonso's McLaren for this weekend's Formula 1 grand prix in Bahrain following his Australia crash.

Alonso's MP4-31 was destroyed in a frightening accident in the season-opening race in Melbourne, with the Spaniard fortunate to walk away unscathed. Unsurprisingly Honda has been unable to salvage any parts from the engine, meaning Alonso will be on to the second of five available systems this year for the race at Sakhir.

"We have recovered the power unit from Fernando's car used in Melbourne," Honda boss Yusuke Hasegawa said. "After initial investigations we are massively disappointed [that] the ICE, and most of the surrounding parts, have been heavily damaged as the impact from the accident was just too great. We will be replacing the complete power unit in Bahrain."

Hasegawa also acknowledged the Albert Park race highlighted where Honda's power unit remains deficient.

"It's evident we still need to increase our performance," added Hasegawa. "But thankfully we were able to learn more about where we are and how to progress from the data collected in Melbourne."

Alonso, who has spent time "resting" over the past few days in recovering from his crash, knows he now needs to complete as many laps as possible ahead of the race to familiarise himself with the new chassis – which should also feature upgrades.

"In testing and in Melbourne we had good reliability, which proves how hard the team has worked to make our package stronger," said Alonso. "There's also been a massive effort from the teams in Woking and Sakura, who have been flat-out manufacturing parts for this race to ensure we can get back up to speed after the chassis was damaged.

"I'm hugely impressed with how quickly they've managed to turn it around. We're still pushing to bring upgrades to each race, so providing we can get everything to the car in time, we'll be aiming to get as much track time as possible with the new chassis from the start of free practice."

Racing director Eric Boullier has also praised the efforts of the team in being able to ready Alonso's new car following what he felt was "a heart-stopping accident." Boullier believes there were at least positives from the race in Melbourne, despite the crash and the fact Jenson Button could only manage 14th.

"We will be aiming to build on the promising initial data we've collected from our car, which shows a definite improvement in pace from last year's package," said Boullier. "There's still much more potential to unlock and performance to find, but the encouraging leap made from testing to Melbourne has shown what's possible. We will keep pushing to improve our pace and develop our strengths by continuing to bring updates to the car at every race."

Originally on Autosport.com