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F1 Malaysian GP: Boullier still carries reliability worries for McLaren

McLaren-Honda Racing Director Eric Boullier says with three technical retirements in the past five races the team is still searching for solutions to its reliability worries ahead of the Malaysian Grand Prix.

Jenson Button has been the unfortunate McLaren driver to suffer three DNFs over the past five races due to mechanical issues (Singapore brakes, Belgium collision damage and Hungary oil leak) while on the other side of the garage Fernando Alonso has notched three points finishes in the same stretch of races.

Boullier says these reliability concerns will still be present at Sepang but if McLaren can get on top of the issues he is confident of another competitive midfield battle.

"If we can achieve reliability on both sides of the garage, I'm hopeful for a positive weekend," Boullier said. "We've proved recently that our package is a firm contender in the midfield pack and we have the potential to finish ahead of some strong teams, so we'll keep fighting to maintain our position and move closer to the front of the grid.

"The challenge at this circuit is to maintain good balance throughout the long straights, big stops and sweeping corners, all while taking the tough and often changeable conditions into account.

"After a recent run of mixed fortunes on one side of the garage, our aim for the remaining races has to be to iron out reliability niggles and finish with both cars."

McLaren has continued to edge away from Toro Rosso for sixth place in the F1 Constructors' championship with Alonso's seventh place seeing the gap increase to seven points after Singapore. 

Zdroj: crash.net