F1 News, Reports and Race Results

McLaren's Sainz hit with more engine component changes for Bahrain GP!

McLaren's Carlos Sainz has already started to eat into his inventory of engine elements following Renault's decision to add additional changes to the Spaniard's engine.

An MGU-K failure in Melbourne, after just 11 laps, compelled Renault to replace the device on Sainz's unit for this weekend's Bahrain Grand Prix.

But the manufacturer has since added a second internal combustion engine, turbocharger and MGU-H.

As a reminder, drivers are allowed two MGU-K elements and three examples of the other components. Sainz is therefore just one MGU-K failure away from a grid penalty.

It is understood that Renault has discarded Sainz's crippled MGU-K from Melbourne, but it is not known if the other three elements were damaged and if they were, if they can be repaired and thus kept in the authorized pool of parts.

Sainz revealed on Thursday that the MGU-K appeared to be a weak point of Renault's power unit.
"It is true we had a couple of failures during testing, so it is something that is a weak point of the car," he said.

"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."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

When angry Mansell advised journo 'to see a psychiatrist'

On this day in 1992, Nigel Mansell conquered his fourth consecutive win of the season…

46 mins ago

Leclerc: Adding Newey to Ferrari’s team 'would be amazing'

Charles Leclerc admits that adding Adrian Newey to Ferrari’s already “incredible” team would be “amazing”,…

2 hours ago

Sainz: Audi track record in motorsport ‘a very important asset’

Carlos Sainz admits that the Volkswagen group’s success in motorsport – be it with VW,…

3 hours ago

Ricciardo: No point in clearing air unless Stroll accepts blame

Daniel Ricciardo was expecting a ‘clear the air’ talk with Lance Stroll after the latter’s…

4 hours ago

Verstappen respects Newey's choice: 'Not dramatic' for Red Bull

Max Verstappen says he respects Adrian Newey’s decision to part ways with Red Bull but…

6 hours ago

Miami GP: Thursday's build-up in pictures

We’re on the eve of another adrenaline-pumping weekend of action in Florida, with Formula 1's…

17 hours ago