If Honda is convinced they have a great opportunity in Monaco to finally score points this year, the same certainty does not pervade Fernando Alonso’s mind, who appeared even more pessimistic at the start of the Monaco weekend.
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If Aston Martin could on one hand benefit from the engine performance leveling due to the winding nature of the track, on the other hand the problems encountered with the gearbox in Miami worry – and not a little – the Spanish champion. But what is the criticality on the AMR26? Both Alonso and Stroll explained that, in certain situations, the system selected the gear completely randomly.
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“Monaco is not the right track for random downshifts, which causes rear brake lock-up and/or engine slippage. In that case, the risk of hitting the wall is very high and we risk only making a fool of ourselves. Sometimes it feels like simply being passengers in the car: you put in a lower gear and the engine gives you a push as if you were at full throttle”.
This phenomenon fundamentally occurs in two different ways, when the engine has to work at low speeds. It can occur during acceleration due to a torque deficit compared to the expected value, or during downshifting where perfect synchronization is necessary to avoid rear lock-up.
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“If the downshift problem experienced in Miami were to be confirmed, perhaps we wouldn’t even be able to race, because we would end up hitting the wall in one of the braking zones” Alonso reiterated, exaggerating – as he has accustomed us to many times – to decisively emphasize the problem.
Engine almost bare
Beyond the gearbox issue, the overheating problems – and therefore reliability – are obviously not yet fully resolved for the Honda power unit. This is why, even in Monaco, Aston Martin was forced to significantly open the engine cover, with a wide grille on both sides that almost exposes the Japanese engine.
The temperatures forecast for the weekend are not even that high (a maximum of 24°C is mentioned) and the comparison with the other single-seaters on the grid is truly impactful…
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