Sainz takes on second MGU-K for Bahrain after Melbourne bust

McLaren's Carlos Sainz will be taking on a second MGU-K element for this weekend after the failure of the Renault element in Melbourne.

A thorough post-race inspection of the kinetic motor generator unit revealed that the component had been damaged beyond repair in Australia, forcing Sainz to take the second of only three authorized MHU-K's for the 2019 season.

Early upgrades key to McLaren progress - Sainz

"Hopefully they [Renault] are looking at it, and they have been looking at it during these last few days, and they’ve found out hopefully the cause of the issue," said Sainz in Bahrain.

"We have put some solutions in place for this race, and if they will work or not we need to see. But it is true we had a couple of failures during testing, so it is something that is a weak point of the car.

"We need to keep working on to ensure we don’t throw any more points into the bin because we did throw a couple of them in Australia."

While Sainz was happy with the performance progress of the Renault power unit at the outset this year, McLaren's new recruit insisted that encountering a reliability issue so early on was unsettling.

"The PU, it is a strong PU in a straight line," he added.

"We have done our steps forward in the right direction, and definitely I welcome that, but lap 11 of race one [to retire] is not good enough.

"Unfortunately on reliability, I don’t mind if the speed is good if we cannot go through lap 11 in the first race of the season. So hopefully that can improve."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.