Honda explain first PU issue of 2019

Honda have explained the decision to replace the power unit in Daniil Kvyat's car ahead of FP2 at the Chinese Grand Prix. The move is the first issue that Honda's engines have run into in 2019, a campaign with added focus on the Japanese marquee as a result of their deal with Red Bull.

Kvyat saw his Friday afternoon running limited after an irregularity was found in his Power Unit by Honda's mechanics.

Rather than investigate the issue fully in the garage, Kvyat's car was fitted with a new power unit - enabling him to make it out in the final stages of the session.

"A tricky first day in China, as we spotted an irregularity on the data from Daniil's car and decided to change the PU before FP2," Tanabe said.

"Unfortunately we found an irregularity on Kvyat’s PU in the morning at the end of FP1. We decided the best option was to replace it, as there wasn’t enough time to investigate."

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"Inevitably, this meant Daniil was unable to go out at the start of the session, but well done to the team for getting him back on track for the final 45 minutes.

"We will now send the original PU back to Sakura for further investigation and also we will analyse the data here at the track."

As a result of the delay, Kvyat was forced to conduct his short-run practice while the track was busy with others on race simulations.

"In FP2, we lost quite a bit of time due to the precautionary PU change, so we were put on the back foot once I was able to get going," he said.

"Everyone was on their high fuel runs so I spent most of my time in traffic. Despite all of this, we are pretty happy where we are, we just need to keep digging for tomorrow."

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