More problems with Ferrari engine: three (!) broken MGU-Ks in Monaco
General
- GPblog.com
Kevin Magnussen seemed to have a serious chance at points in the Monaco Grand Prix, but relatively early in the race the Haas F1 driver had to park his car in the pit box. It turned out to be an issue with the MGU-K. On Friday during practice, Mick Schumacher and Valtteri Bottas also had problems with that particular engine part.
It will certainly be something Ferrari will look at this week in Maranello. When the same engine component breaks down three times in one weekend, it seems logical to think that it is a structural problem. Research in the factory of the Italian engine supplier will however have to shed more light on the actual cause of the problem.
For Magnussen, the pigeons were in any case sour, as he returned home scoreless. "We had to retire the car - there was nothing we could do about that sadly," he stated afterwards in the press release from Haas F1. "I really thought our pace in the race was good considering we were on a full wet on a dry line, I had been able to keep Gasly behind until our issue and I was closing on Bottas. It would have been really exciting around the pit stops to see what could have happened. It's unfortunate with no points today even though I think we had the car to do it, we knew we could fight."
Grid penalty Bottas approaching
It is unclear whether the three MGU-Ks have sustained permanent damage or whether a repair is also within the realm of possibility. Drivers are allowed to use three different MGU-Ks in a season. After that, grid penalties follow. For Bottas, the problems in Monaco meant that he was already driving with his third MGU-K.