We have learned that world champion Fernando Alonso will not test at Sepang next week.
The Spanish racer, however, did return from Australia to McLaren’s Woking factory as the team plans a significant upgrade for its MP4-22 single seater to debut at the Spanish GP in May.
McLaren, as was predicted, was clearly superior to nine of F1’s eleven teams at Albert Park, but the lap time deficit to Ferrari was possibly even more than was expected prior to the 2007 season opener.
The Spanish press quoted Alonso as saying: “McLaren is a team that is always among the fastest developers.”
Lewis Hamilton (two days) and Pedro de la Rosa (one day) will carry out the test duties for the Mercedes-powered team at the Malaysian circuit from next Tuesday.
