Out of the 4 Honda powered cars on Imola last weekend, only Daniil Kvyat of Alphatauri managed to earn points. His teammate Pierre Gasly was retired because of an engine problem. In an interview with Autosport Web, Honda’s technical director Toyaharu Tanabe analyses Gasly’s early DNF.
The French driver experienced a disappointing Sunday due to a water pressure issue with the Honda-engine, which caused the Alphatauri team to call of Gasly’s race in the eighth lap.
“Water leaks from the radiator. It was a simple part damage. It's a real shame that I dropped Gasly's local race in great shape", Tanabe illustrates. “I stopped it to protect the engine. It was a very disappointing trouble.”
Issues already known
Tanabe also explains that the issue was noticed by the team earlier in the weekend. “A drop in water pressure was detected on the data. There was no problem until the qualifying. It started to drop suddenly on the lap toward the grid, and when I checked it on the grid, I couldn't find anything, so I increased the water pressure and started the race.”