McLaren have been dealt with serious reliability issues in Winter testing until now. Having moved on from the apparently ‘unreliable’ Honda engine, the 2018 F1 season was supposed to be a splendid one for the otherwise splendid McLaren machine.
However, the new Renault engine hasn’t quite ensured a smooth enough testing for McLaren, and one feels that maybe Honda was never really the problem.
The McLaren team is now working on the internal cooling of the car after suffering bodywork burning problems during testing.
Small burn marks appeared on the bodywork of the new MCL33 but the Renault boss feels that it isn’t something to be worried about and should be a quick fix for McLaren.
“We’re working on a new package with a new engine partner, so we have to detect the heat soak pockets,” Boullier said.
“While we find some other way to redesign the cooling inside the car, we are using some very quick fixes now.
“We might keep it actually, we don’t know.
“Maybe we need to redesign some ducts somewhere, or whatever. It’s normal – not only the engine but the car itself [is new].” he added.
Boullier isn’t too concerned with the issue and feels that the burn marks are not showstoppers and that the fans shouldn’t read much into it.
“It’s not important, we just have to put some more protection somewhere and that’s it,” he said.
“It’s not a showstopper.
“A couple of teams in the pitlane have a full-scale dyno, so they can detect it because they run a full car. “The other ones can’t, so you have to run to detect your issues.” he added.
McLaren was hit with three stoppages on Day 1 of Test two, one in the pit lane and two on the track. The stoppage caused by the electric shutdown needs further investigation and McLaren would want to fix it before the Day 2 of test two as their car the their drivers need to get some laps under their belt now.
“We are every year fixing new targets, so far we have achieved them and now we know we can achieve them on the track as well,” said Boullier.
“I don’t know if it’s good enough to be in front of which teams, because I think everybody is sandbagging a little bit.
“But the car is good and looks solid on track.” he concluded.
