While he was steadily progressing up the field and looked set to score a handful of points, Carlos Sainz Jr. suddenly ground to a halt on lap 32 in last Sunday's British Grand Prix, which in turn activated the Virtual Safety Car procedure.
It was initially thought that the Toro Rosso's Renault engine may have been the culprit but upon further analysis conducted by the team back at its factory, it appears an electrical failure was the cause of Sainz' retirement.
The team did not provide any additional details related to the problem although it did specify that the malfunction was outside the realm of Renault's responsibility.
The explanation enticed Renault Sport Cyril Abiteboul to respond on Twitter by thanking the STR squad for its clarity. "Very fair from STR. It means that we can keep our focus on bringing performance".
Click here for a lighter look back at some scenes from the British Grand Prix
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