Fernando Alonso: McLaren face dilemma over engine upgrade

McLaren has enjoyed stronger performances recently in Singapore and Malaysia, but the situation for Honda's home race could be complicated if the manufacturer offers up new developments for Suzuka, as applying any upgrades would require McLaren's drivers to take grid penalties.

Speaking about the situation, Alonso said: "It is the home GP for Honda, so we want to do well there.

"We know how important that race is for the team. About 30-40% of our engineers are Japanese, so we have a big moment of the year.

"The families are there, the Japanese fans, they support a lot of our team, so it is a very special weekend for us and we want to perform well.

"If there is a new spec engine or any improvements, that will be with a penalty and we will start last.

"So it is difficult to compensate if we want to start last with an extra horsepower, or do we want to do a perfect weekend and try to score points?

"It is not up to us. The Honda engineers will tell us if first if there is an evolution ready that we don't know yet and if there is something ready, if it is better to take that opportunity or not."