But day is still by far the most promising for new partnership with Honda; Alonso completed 32 laps before being forced to return to the garage
Tuesday 3 February 2015 16:09, UK
McLaren-Honda's woes in pre-season testing have continued after the team were forced out of the afternoon session on Day Three in Jerez.
After an encouraging morning, “a loss of cooling water pressure” on the Honda-powered MP4-30 brought their day's work to a premature conclusion.
The problem necessitated the removal of the engine for inspection – a time consuming task due to the complexity of the new turbo-charged units.
However, despite missing the final three hours of running it was by far the most promising day so far for the McLaren-Honda partnership.
Having managed just a handful of laps during the Abu Dhabi post-season test in 2014 and a mere 12 over the opening two days in Jerez, Alonso completed 32 laps on Tuesday to give the team valuable mileage and data.
The Spaniard even managed to complete an 11-lap stint at one point after being previously limited to short bursts on the previous two days and he described the day as a "big step forward".
McLaren report it was Alonso who spotted the issue during an outlap and are confident the car will be repaired and ready for Jenson Button to resume testing on the fourth and final day in Jerez.
The Sky Sports F1 Online team will be providing live commentary from all four days of testing in Jerez – from dawn on Sunday to dusk on Wednesday. Sky Sports News HQ will also have live updates from trackside.
