McLaren suffered from a 2015 flashback, as the team failed to complete any timed laps on the final day of the pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. This technical issue surfaces just hours after the team had replaced the engine.
Fernando Alonso was prepared to do some solid laps in testing, taking over for Jenson Button who drove the car the day before. Unfortunately, the team experienced some technical difficulties with Button behind the wheel, as a small fire cut the team’s testing programme short. Overnight, the team’s engineers had discovered that a minor hydraulic leak at the base of the engine had caused the issue and they opted to replace the new engine as a precaution. The team was hoping for some better luck for Alonso, but that would not be the case.
During his three installation laps, the car’s telemetry alerted the team to a small coolant leak and Alonso was brought into the pits. The team needed to perform the necessary checks, but that meant stripping down the car to further analyze the issue. As a result, the team was unable to get car back onto the track.
“Today was disappointing after starting the first couple of days of the test so positively,” said Fernando Alonso, who has been no stranger to technical failures, having driven the McLaren MP4-30 last season. “Still, it’s good news that although the issue we had on the car meant we had to miss a lot of today’s running, it’s not a major problem and will be fixed in time for next week’s test.”
McLaren has stated that the issue in day four was not related to the issue that they had experienced the day before. They have also confirmed that they will properly investigate and fix the issue in time for the final pre-season test this upcoming Tuesday.
“Unfortunately, the coolant leak we experienced on the car today was in a tricky position, which meant it took longer than usual to locate and fix,” explained Matt Morris, the team’s director of engineering. “It’s always frustrating when a small issue hampers your running for much of a day, but thankfully it’s relatively minor and we can now look to preparing the car for the second test on Tuesday. Testing is testing, and it gives us the opportunity to identify and work on reliability issues before we start the season.”
Despite these issues in day three and four, the beginning of the first test was largely positive and did display an improvement from the 2015 car and power unit. The team will be on track for the second and final pre-season test at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on March 1, where they will be focusing on longer runs to further evaluate the performance of the chassis and power unit.
