Only Alonso to race upgraded Honda engine at Sochi

Honda has brought a new engine specification to Russia, Germany's Auto Motor und Sport reports. Correspondent Michael Schmidt said the power unit makes use of the struggling Japanese manufacturer's final 4 in-season 'tokens' for 2015.

The engine will reportedly be fitted only to Fernando Alonso's McLaren at Sochi, resulting in the Spaniard needing to move to the back of the grid. But that is just part of the "acute pain" that McLaren and Honda are going through at present, as explained by team supremo Ron Dennis recently at Suzuka.

"We have tried to move forward faster and that has affected reliability and made the whole thing more challenging," Dennis had said. "But this very acute pain we have inflicted on ourselves is the fastest way for us to get back to where we need to get to."

In other engine news, Mercedes has reportedly brought fresh engines to Sochi for customers Williams, Force India and Lotus, but it is not the latest speculation that is currently being run by the works team. "The problem," explained Schmidt, "is that Petronas could not make enough of the special fuel for this type of engine in the time available."

Sauber will apparently also get new Ferrari engines in Russia, but it is the Montreal specification, not the so-called 'super motor' introduced by the works team at Monza. And as for Red Bull, whose obvious divorce from Renault is now pending, there is no news about the upgraded engine that was originally promised for Sochi. "At the moment, we are a little bit in the dark about when that engine is coming," team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Speed Week. (GMM)