While his fellow Formula One drivers were enjoying the final weekend off before the 2017 season finale in Abu Dhabi this coming weekend, McLaren Honda driver Fernando Alonso spent his Sunday morning hard at work behind the wheel of the #8 TS050 Hybrid Toyota for his debut LMP1 test at the Bahrain International Circuit.
Alonso only confirmed that he would be taking part in the rookie test day late Saturday afternoon when he was at the prestigious Macau GP weekend and he shared the driving duties with former F1 driver and FE champion Sebastien Buemi.
Alonso set a best time of 1:43.709 on the second last of 37 laps. This time was over a second and a half slower than Buemi, who finished second overall for the session.
Then, in the afternoon, the Spaniard improved his earlier time by seven tenths of a second to finish the day off with a best time of 1:43.013 to complete a total of 113 laps for the day.
"I think a test in an LMP1 is always a nice thing for any racing driver; these cars are amazing to drive and are very consistent in the stints," Alonso was quoted as saying on Autosport. "One day it would be nice [to race in endurance]. I don't know when, but endurance is one of the goals for me in the future after F1."
Alonso has made no secret of the fact that one day he would like to add the Le mans 24hr trophy to his current collection.
