Silverstone, Northamptonshire - Fernando Alonso will have yet another engine change for Sunday's British Grand Prix but Honda said the McLaren driver would escape a further grid penalty because the damaged unit will be replaced with used components.
Alonso and team-mate Jenson Button were handed 25 place penalties at the previous race in Austria after using their fifth power units of the season, one more than Formula One's allocation for the year.
Alonso, who returned to McLaren at the end of 2014 after five seasons with Ferrari, failed to complete a lap during the race after former team mate Kimi Raikkonen crashed into him.
Honda's motorsport head Yasuhisa Arai said in a team preview: “At Spielberg Fernando was involved in an accident on the first lap of the race, and Jenson had a sensor failure issue. As a result, both cars were forced to retire.
“We have since completed thorough checks of both power units back at the factory, and we believe that Fernando's power unit has sustained damage from the accident, and it may be necessary to change the engine.
“As for Jenson's power unit this weekend, the issue is still under investigation.”
A Honda spokeswoman confirmed that Alonso would need a new engine but said it would not be a brand new one but put together from components from within the allocation that remained serviceable.
Alonso has yet to score any points in eight races while it would take a miracle for Button, who has four points to his credit, to appear on the Silverstone podium for the first time in his Formula One career this weekend.
Button, world champion with Brawn GP in 2009 and at 35 the most experienced driver in Formula One, told reporters after Austria: “We won't be on the podium this year.
“I don't go into Silverstone thinking I might not ever finish on the podium. I still hold out hope...but you've got to be realistic and realise that is not possible right now.”
Asked then what his late father John, a popular and much-missed paddock figure, would have said to the McLaren engineers about the team's troubled start to the new partnership with Honda, Button replied with a smile.
“You don't want to know what he would say. The team don't want to know what he would say.”
FERRARI FAN RICCIARDO SAYS A MOVE IS UNLIKELY
Daniel Ricciardo was a Ferrari fan long before his Red Bull team entered Formula One but, despite media speculation, he doesn’t expect to be moving to Maranello anytime soon.
He said on Tuesday at a Red Bull event ahead of Sunday's British Grand Prix that his current contract was long-term and “pretty tight”.
“If I don't perform well then Red Bull has the option to let me go, “ he said. “But if I continue to perform well, it's in their interests to keep the contract as it is.”
The paddock rumour mill has suggested that Ricciardo, winner of three races in 2014l, is high - if not top of - Ferrari's wish list as a possible replacement for Kimi Raikkonen alongside Sebastian Vettel.
Vettel, a four times world champion with Red Bull, was largely eclipsed by Ricciardo when they were team-mates last year.
Raikkonen, the 2007 world champion, is 10 years older than Ricciardo and out of contract at the end of the season although Ferrari has an option to keep him.
“I guess I'm not the only name that's been linked with them, “ said Ricciardo. “Don't get me wrong, it's nice to be talked about and considered; it's a compliment.
“Whether it moves forward or not, it's all just talk for now.”
Ricciardo said if he were to be in the frame for a move to Ferrari one day, any decision would be driven by results rather than prestige - although his background spoke for itself.
“I do have an Italian passport. I'm not going to say 'No, I wouldn't like to drive for Ferrari'. That's not fair,” he said.
“It's obviously the history. Growing up as a kid, Red Bull wasn't really around. When I was three or four years old, all the racing tops I had were Ferrari,” continued the Perth-born driver.
“Dad was a massive fan, he was born in Italy and it's a little bit in his blood, his passion for the brand and the team. The only thing I really knew as a kid was red cars.”
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said Ricciardo was staying.
“He's on a long-term contract with the team. There's no option for him not to be at Red Bull next year. They would have to talk to us about it rather than the driver,” he said. “It's a very straightforward agreement.”
‘STRATEGY MEETING MUST BE DECISIVE’
Horner was equally blunt about the need for Formula One to make real strategic decisions at a meeting on Wednesday after talking a lot about change and delivering little.
“I think it's a crucial meeting tomorrow,” he said. “Really some actions need to come out of it.
“The time for talking has now come and gone. There need to be some definitive actions following the meeting, which hopefully will be achieved.”
The sport's Strategy Group, which includes six leading teams (Mercedes, Ferrari, Red Bull, McLaren, Williams and Force India) along with the commercial rights holder and the governing International Automobile Federation, is due to meet in London before the sport gathers at Silverstone this weekend.
Previous meetings have produced meagre results, with the main headline-grabbing decision from the last one being a return to refuelling - an idea which now lacks support.
Concerned about dwindling audiences, even though Silverstone expects a record crowd of 140 000 on Sunday thanks to the local pulling power of world champion Lewis Hamilton, the sport wants to make cars lighter, noisier, faster and more aggressive looking from 2017.
Red Bull's engine partner Renault, and others, also want to be allowed to develop their engines during 2016 to close the gap on Mercedes.
However Horner said the group, which he dismissed only a week ago as 'inept', needed to look at the bigger picture more than the detail.
Horner, who has advocated appointing an independent and highly respected figure such as former principal Ross Brawn to help write the rules, said: “The whole purpose of that group is to decide the strategic direction of the sport in the future, it's not there to finalise regulations.
“What we need to do is all get onto the same page. It's a key element to tomorrow's meeting. There are some concepts that will be put on the table tomorrow and I think it's important we converge on a majority position.
“It's time to take some action now. We've talked a lot, and now we need to dictate a strategic direction for the sport. That's what we need to focus on and achieve out of tomorrow's meeting.”
Reuters