More mechanical woes affected the McLaren-Honda team on day three at the Circuit de Catalunya with Jenson Button being restricted to only 24 laps after more issues with the seal on their MGU-K.
The problem resurfaced despite the introduction of a new seal to the MP4/30’s MGU-K unit, with the team being forced to run another limited programme with reduced power in Spain.
“After the morning session, the car fed back MGU-K issues similar to what we experienced on Thursday, so we brought it back to the garage,” said a McLaren statement.
“After a thorough check, we have decided to resume testing with limited power to the MGU-K. “A new and re-engineered seal is scheduled to arrive and will be applied later this evening.”
Button reflected on another disappointing day of limited running after seeing team-mate Fernando Alonso run 59 virtually untroubled laps on Friday, but revealed some optimism about the driveability of the car, and feels comfortable every time he drives the MP4/30, and hopes for five positive test days before the Formula 1 season begins in Australia next month.
“Yesterday wasn’t bad, with more mileage and lots of data gathered, but today’s been tricky – it hasn’t been my day,” reflected Button. “We had a similar problem to the one we faced on Thursday, with the faulty MGU-K seal, so the afternoon running was limited to aero testing and pit stop practice.
“I still can’t comment on where the car will be when everything is running smoothly, as I haven’t had the chance to run it properly without meeting problems. Having said that, I feel like there’s definitely nothing wrong with the car or any standout issues with driveability. You jump in the car and everything feels good.
“Hopefully, our problems will be solved sooner rather than later, but tomorrow is still likely to be a reasonably difficult day. There’s a lot for us to improve at the moment – we’ve still got five days of testing left, so hopefully they’ll be five good days.”
