Honda admits Bahrain failures ‘a disaster’

Honda's head of F1 project Yusuke Hasegawa admits the Bahrain Grand Prix weekend was "a disaster" due to recurring reliability issues.

Repeat MGU-H problems hampered both drivers throughout the weekend, with Fernando Alonso unable to run after Q1 on Saturday and Stoffel Vandoorne (pictured below) failing to even start the race with a suspected fourth MGU-H failure in three days.

"Yeah it is very frustrating," Hasegawa told RACER. "Of course it is very frustrating and we are feeling very bad for the drivers. It is a disaster.

"Obviously we have to find out what has happened, and of course we have to find a solution. It is very crucial."

Investigations will take place back at Honda's factory in Sakura, Japan, with Hasegawa saying a fix had already been put in place following pre-season testing that had worked until Bahrain.

"In Barcelona T2 we had a similar problem, so we modified a little bit but I think it wasn't enough of a solution.

"No, I don't think [heat is a problem]. Obviously the temperatures are a bit high but these are not as hard conditions as on the dyno."

Alonso also stopped late in the race complaining of a power unit problem, and Hasegawa said he understood the need to retire although there was no obvious issue with the car at the time.

Asked if there was an explanation for Alonso's stoppage, Hasegawa replied: "No, but he felt something wrong, something that isn't normal.

"There was no point to keep running so we decided to retire to check the car. It's important that if the driver felt something wrong then we need to stop the engine running."

Despite the difficult weekend, Hasegawa says Honda is fortunate it is able to complete more track tests over the coming days in Bahrain to try and help its learning.

"Yes, of course, we will do something on Tuesday and Wednesday. It is very important, so from that point of view it is good that we have a test before Russia."