 In addition to the engine upgrades Honda introduced for the United States Grand Prix , McLaren brought a new aerodynamic package for the MP4 @-@ 30 which revised the front wing to increase downforce , altered the turning vanes to improve air flow over the front splitter , and adopted a concept pioneered by Ferrari to the rear floor designed to reduce the impact of airflow washing over the rear wheels and disrupting the rear diffuser , which in turn opened up a wider range of set @-@ up options for the ride height and rake , or the angle between the front and rear ride height . These updates were designed to bring the MP4 @-@ 30 in line with the designs developed by other teams . With the engine and aerodynamic updates , the team had hoped to compete for points on merit , and while Alonso clashed with Felipe Massa on the opening lap , he was running as high as fifth on the closing stages — and was on course to replicate the team 's best result of the season — before suffering a loss of power and slipping back down the order to finish eleventh . With Alonso out of the points , Button was promoted to sixth . The race also saw what would be the car 's best qualifying performance as Alonso started eleventh , while the six points Button scored saw the team close to within ten points of Sauber in the World Constructors ' Championship . However , the result also meant that McLaren had endured its longest winless streak of fifty @-@ three races , previously set between the 1977 Japanese Grand Prix and the 1981 British Grand Prix . Despite the progress that the team made over the previous rounds , the MP4 @-@ 30 's struggles continued in Mexico , with both drivers eliminated early in qualifying , and Jenson Button setting a new record for grid penalties , changing enough parts to warrant a seventy @-@ place penalty . Alonso retired from the race with an incurable ERS problem that the team had identified the night before and Button finished fourteenth overall . 
