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F1 testing: McLaren to fit new engine after Honda electrical issue

McLaren will replace the engine in Stoffel Vandoorne's car ahead of the first afternoon of the second pre-season Formula 1 test at Barcelona after an electrical issue with Honda's power unit.

Honda had been eager to bounce back from a troubled first week, but its woes continued on the first morning of the second test.

An electrical problem confined Stoffel Vandoorne to the garage after 34 lap sduring the morning session.

A decision was taken for the engine to be changed, and a fresh power unit to be fitted for the afternoon.

A statement from Honda read: "We detected an electrical issue with the PU in Stoffel's car.

"In the interest of maximising track time, we opted to replace it and investigate the issue further once the PU [power unit] is out of the car.

"The PU we are using today is the same spec as the PU run last week at test one."

Tuesday's electrical problem comes after a failure on the second day of last week's test.

Honda's investigations into that problem have been ongoing back at its Japanese Sakura headquarters, and experiments were due to take place this week to try to get a better understanding of the situation.

The latest reliability drama comes with just three days of F1 testing remaining prior to the season-opening Australian Grand Prix.

"It's frustrating for everybody," McLaren racing director Eric Boullier admitted.

"When you don't have a lot of days of testing you want to make the most of it. It's frustrating for Stoffel and for us as well.

"The less we run, the less we learn the cars and the more we run behind on our development programme."

Zdroj: autosport.com