Jerez F1 testing: Honda says McLaren engine problems fixed

Alonso ended up bottom of the timesheets in Spain thanks to electrical and control systems problems with the MP4-30's Honda engine.

With pacesetter Sebastian Vettel ending the day 18 seconds faster after completing 60 laps for Ferrari, the extent of the work McLaren must do before the start of the season was clear.

But Honda is unperturbed by the opening day reliability problems, and says fixes it has planned should lead to a better showing on Monday.

Its motorsport chief Yasuhisa Arai said: "I cannot say the detail but there was small electrical trouble and also some control trouble, but not so big.

"We have already fixed it. We have found out what has happened, and tonight we change something and tomorrow will be much better."

Arai clarified that the issues encountered at Jerez were completely different to those suffered in Abu Dhabi testing last year.

"In Abu Dhabi we had many communication troubles, but that was already fixed before this test," he said.

"We have found out new issues today because the car is completely new.

"We have to learn very carefully step-by-step, so we can imagine what happened today."

ALONSO NOT SURPRISED BY STRUGGLE

When asked by AUTOSPORT if he felt the Honda challenge was going to be greater than he originally anticipated, Alonso said: "I think it more or less went as expected.

"Obviously it was a slow start, as we knew it would be. We saw last year how difficult it was for all the teams to complete laps, especially in the first couple of days.

"Even Red Bull was only doing 10 laps, or something like that, all winter.

"It's definitely complex technology that we have in Formula 1 cars today and we need time.

"We have to learn a lot of things in the car as we start putting mileage on.

"Also the car design is quite extreme, quite aggressive and quite innovative, so we definitely have something to discover there.

"I would like to do more laps, that's for sure, because after a long wait of two months for testing, six laps is not enough.

"But we are all happy, all excited and we had an amazing atmosphere inside the garage today for the comeback of McLaren-Honda after 22 years.

"I felt so honoured and so privileged to be the man in the car today.

"There are a lot of things to work on, but I believe so much in the project and I'm so, so happy to be sitting here."