Briton Jenson Button’s miserable problem-hit weekend hit a new low on Sunday when he was ruled out of the Bahrain Grand Prix by the struggling McLaren-Honda team.
After being left stranded on the circuit by car failures three times – twice on Friday and again during qualifying on Saturday – Button’s team said Sunday that they had failed to fix the electronic problems that have wrecked his race weekend.
The team said the problems are caused by the car’s energy recovery system. He had failed to clock a qualifying lap and was due to start from the back of the grid in 20th position.
Team boss Ron Dennis told Sky Sports F1: “The data out of the energy recovery system was not clean.
“The chances of it failing are quite high so it’s probably better not to run it.”
It is the second time a McLaren has not started a race this year.
In the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, Spaniard Fernando Alonso missed out on making his debut due to a prolonged recovery from concussion and his replacement Dane Kevin Magnussen suffered an engine failure before the race.
Alonso qualified 14th.
The team confirmed Button’s withdrawal on Twitter, saying: “Sadly we are not able to ready Jenson’s car. During fire-up, data indicated an issue originating from his earlier electrical problems.”
Button said: “As you probably are aware I will not be taking part in the Bahrain GP, the guys have worked flat out to get the car built but we’re unable to run.”