Fernando Alonso has revealed McLaren is effectively using the Russian Grand Prix as a test session for experimental parts for 2016.
The team made a strategic decision to run its upgraded Honda power unit in FP1 before removing it and saving the mileage for the US Grand Prix where it expects to be more competitive. But Alonso has revealed the team is also running several experimental parts on the car in order to gather data this weekend.
"We have some experimental parts in the car, in preparation for next year, so we need to finish the race to give them as much mileage as possible," Alonso said. "The cars are in different configurations, to get comparative data, so from that point of view it's also an interesting weekend even if we're not competitive. We won't have a spectacular race but we're trying some very interesting solutions."
Alonso said McLaren knew Sochi would not suit its car ahead of the weekend.
"We don't have enough top speed and that's very important on this circuit, but the car is well balanced. We knew it would be difficult, so we decided to take the penalty here but keep the new engine for the next races, so for here we put one of the worst engines we still have because, in any case, we don't have many chances to fight for the points. But we'll try to have some fun in the race, pass a few cars at the start and give a good battle to whatever cars we'll have around us."