McLaren have changed their test plans at the last minute following Fernando Alonso’s crash with Kimi Raikkonen on the opening lap of the Austrian Grand Prix.
The Spaniard had been due to evaluate a number of upgrades including a new shorter-nose, front-wing, rear-wing, floor and diffuser on the opening day of the in-season test this week.
However because of the clash, which reportedly peaked at 40G in Alonso’s McLaren, a large number of the updates were damaged beyond repair and are therefore unavailable for the opening test day on Tuesday.
As reported by Grand Prix Times on Monday, the team are urgently manufacturing replacement parts back in Woking which will then be shipped to Austria. It’s hoped they will arrive on Wednesday morning in time for the second and final test day.
McLaren have therefore swapped Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne’s test days, with the former now driving on Wednesday and the latter on Tuesday, with the aim being to get Alonso to complete some meaningful running in the updated MP4-30.
Red Bull have also chosen to swap Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly, with Ricciardo now driving on Wednesday and Gasly on Tuesday.
Updated driver line-up for the Austrian test:
| # | Team | Tuesday | Wednesday |
| 01. | Mercedes | Nico Rosberg | Pascal Wehrlein |
| 02. | Ferrari | Antonio Fuoco | Esteban Gutierrez |
| 03. | Red Bull | Pierre Gasly | Daniel Ricciardo |
| 04. | Williams | Susie Wolff | Valtteri Bottas |
| 05. | McLaren | Stoffel Vandoorne | Fernando Alonso |
| 06. | Lotus | Romain Grosjean | Jolyon Palmer |
| 07. | Force India | Pascal Wehrlein | Esteban Ocon |
| 08. | Toro Rosso | Max Verstappen | Marco Wittmann |
| 09. | Sauber | Raffaele Marciello | Felipe Nasr |
