McLaren test compromised after Alonso shunt

McLaren has been forced to alter its post Austrian Grand Prix test plans with the team due to evaluate a limited number of new parts following Fernando Alonso’s heavy crash.

The Woking-based team brought an updated aero package to the Red Bull Ring, which included a new nose and rear wing, but the team only had enough parts for one car.

Alonso reported encouraging results having trialled the package during the weekend, but his opening lap crash with Kimi Raikkonen during Sunday’s race destroyed the majority of the upgrades.

The struggling former world champion team will now evaluate a reduced amount of items at this week’s two-day test, which begins later today.

The squad has switched its driver line up with test pilot Stoffel Vandoorne due to open the running instead of Alonso, in the hope fresh upgraded parts can be delivered to the track for the Spaniard to test on Wednesday.

GP2 star Vandoorne is expected to run a car fitted with a mixture of old and updated components.

Meanwhile, Red Bull Racing has rejigged its plans slightly with Daniel Ricciardo now due to jump behind of the wheel of the RB11 on Wednesday rather than Pierre Gasly.

Reigning DTM champion Marco Wittmann will make his F1 test debut with Toro Rosso on Wednesday.

The outing was offered by Red Bull’s sister team, following the 25-year-old’s success in the German touring car series last year.

Post Austrian GP test line up

Team	Tuesday	Wednesday
Mercedes	Nico Rosberg	Pascal Wehrlein
Ferrari	Antonio Fuoco	Esteban Gutierrez
Red Bull Racing	Pierre Gasly	Daniel Ricciardo
Williams	Susie Wolff	Valtteri Bottas
McLaren	Stoffel Vandoorne	Fernando Alonso
Lotus	Romain Grosjean	Jolyon Palmer
Force India	Pascal Wehrlein	Esteban Ocon
Toro Rosso	Max Verstappen	Marco Wittmann
Sauber	Raffaele Marciello	Felipe Nasr