Fernando Alonso says he fully expects to start from the back of the grid in Mexico following his power unit failure in the United States.
Alonso described his Austin weekend as "sublime" after racing to seventh before failure struck, costing McLaren some much needed points. With Alonso and team-mate Stoffel Vandoorne way beyond their component limits, any change incurs a penalty.
It's likely Honda will opt to upgrade Alonso to their latest spec engine, which would see the Spaniard drop to the very back of the Mexican grid.
"It will surely be a challenging weekend for us as I’m expecting to start from the back of the grid due to the engine issue we had in Austin," said Alonso.
"It’s also a track where we often struggle with traffic, which makes overtaking difficult. But, on the positive side, we tested a lot of new components on Friday in the USA which we were very happy with, and we hope to take those forward to use in Mexico."
Vandoorne is hopeful he will avoid any penalties on his side, but even then, admitted the race will likely be a difficult one for McLaren.
"For McLaren Honda, Mexico will likely be a very tricky race for us because of the long straight and the high altitude, two characteristics which will make things more difficult for us all weekend.
"As I had to change my PU on race day in Austin, we’re hoping that we won’t have to take penalties on my car in Mexico, but at the moment we’re looking into everything and will wait until Friday to confirm if anything is necessary."
