McLaren has apologised to
Red Bull for the ECU issue that affected
Mark Webber during the Australian Grand Prix.
Webber lost time when the lights went out after a software-related issue with the part – supplied by
McLaren Electronic Systems – affected his preparations for the start of the race.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner was quick to
lay the blame with McLaren for Webber's problem, with
McLaren then looking into the cause of the issue.
Having traced the problem,
McLaren has now apologised for the issues that Webber faced and said it was working with
Red Bull to avoid a repeat.
“An ECU comprises several thousand parts, tens of thousands of solder connections and hundreds of thousands of lines of software,” a
McLaren Electronic Systems statement read. “It is a very complex piece of equipment that controls the powertrain and DRS, and acts as a car's primary data system.
“The electronic units themselves ran without incident in Melbourne, but there was a software-related issue that meant that Mark Webber's
Red Bull Racing car's garage data system had to be re-started during the formation lap. That disrupted his preparations for the start of the race, for which Mark and the team has our apology. We are working together with them to prevent any recurrence.”
F1 features a new standard ECU this season, which will also be used when the new engine regulations come into force next year.
McLaren Electronic Systems provides the ECU used by every team on the grid as well as those used by teams in
NASCAR and IndyCar.