Renault boss Cyril Abiteboul admits the engine issues which caused both drivers to near-simultaneously retire in Bahrain were previously known.
The French manufacturer was enjoying a better race as Nico Hulkenberg made big progress up the field from 17th to P6 while Daniel Ricciardo was hanging down also in points despite running on a different strategy.
At the start of Lap 54 though, just three laps shy of the end, both cars pulled off at Turn 1 with power unit failures.
“It’s been a very bad start to our racing season,” Abiteboul admitted, with just six points on the board.
“Similar to Melbourne, our qualifying in Bahrain was massively compromised by minor electronics issues, which impacted both cars.
“[Then] our race today came to a sudden stop so close to the finish [because of] issues we have previously encountered but something we were unable to rectify in Bahrain.
“These problems are increasingly frustrating and unacceptable as both cars have shown very good competitiveness both over one-lap and race runs.”
LAP 55/57: Now it’s agony in the Renault garage as both Ricciardo AND Hulkenberg suffer engine faults on the same lap #BahrainGP ?? #F1 pic.twitter.com/8GL7oToa9c
— Formula 1 (@F1) March 31, 2019
More worryingly, the issues appeared to be unrelated with Hulkenberg’s engine popping before coming to halt, while Ricciardo had a complete shut down of the ERS.
In the Australian’s case, he was called to the stewards post-race to explain why he hadn’t replaced the steering wheel as is obliged for all drivers when they stop on track.
“I had the ‘red’ light on so I couldn’t touch the car. I wasn’t taking any risks,” he told Sky Sports, with the light signalling the car wasn’t safe electrically.
“I don’t really feel like getting electrocuted today.”
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Ricciardo also admitted frustration at opting for a one-stop strategy which was why he was exposed to those behind in the laps before his engine failure.
“I felt like we got past the point in the first stint where it was too late to come back [from a one-stop strategy] and it was pretty much at that point I knew it wasn’t the best thing to do,” he explained.
“If we then did the two-stop we would have come out behind everyone else so we had to commit to it. In hindsight, well even during the race we knew it wasn’t the best thing. We tried it, that was the idea, but I think a two-stop would have been much more preferred.”