McLaren are letting down Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso

It had been such an exciting week for McLaren, what with their plans for updating Fernando Alonso's car, but ended up being another embarrassing one for both him and poor Jenson Button.

Only Alonso got the upgrade – a new, shorter nose for the car, and more aerodynamic wings, plus a better Honda engine – and the plan was to debut it in practice and gain data across the weekend.

Of course, with engine amendments they'd have to take grid penalties, but they were prepared for that. What they weren't prepared for was the fact that his team-mate Button, running the same car they've struggled with all season, would also get smacked with a 25-place grid penalty (in a field of only 20 cars) for his engine failures.

In one sense, that made it simpler: McLaren knew they were all set for a bad weekend, and they'd be able to start thinking about picking things up next time out at Silverstone.

Yet they couldn't have imagined just how bad the race would be for them.

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Alonso's flashy new car was crushed in the first lap, flying over Kimi Raikkonen's cockpit after the Ferrari lost control due to wheel spin and went into the barriers.

And Button's less-than-trusty old steed packed up ten laps in, making a hideous noise, simply lacking the ability to move any further.

Alonso and Button are sticking to the party line so far this weekend, admitting to frustration but not losing their tempers (and for Alonso to keep his cool after seeing his brand-new swishy car mangled is quite a feat).

What is interesting is the way the horrible season seems to have brought the pair together. There was all sorts of speculation last season about who would constitute the McLaren team for 2015 and who'd get let go, and it would be forgivable if that kind of uncertainty created a poor dynamic.

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Yet Button and Alonso seem to have the mentality that they're in the trenches together and they have to look out for each other because nobody else is going to.

“Is Fernando OK? Is Fernando OK?” came Button's urgent cry over the radio as soon as he saw the wreckage of his team-mate's car.

The pair of them are looking on the bright side as best they can – and if that means that they have to use, “Well, I'm conscious and haven't broken any limbs!” as the plus side, that's what they'll do.

It's sad times, though, when such great drivers are brought to such depths – this is Alonso's worst season ever, his results worse even than when he was driving for Minardi so many years ago.

And that's just wrong. Both Button, aged 35, and Alonso, aged 33, are senior drivers in the field, meaning they probably won't have that many years left in F1. McLaren should be giving them a decent swansong, not embarrassing them again in front of their loyal fans.