McLaren practice ends in chaos

MCLAREN’S bid to avenge last season’s world championship agony began amid confusion and fears of more reliability woes in Bahrain yesterday.

Last year’s runner-up Kimi Raikkonen, whose 2005 title challenge was ruined by reliability problems, parked his McLaren on track in second practice after just 12 laps.

Initial worries over an engine problem, which would have brought a 10-place grid penalty if changed, proved unfounded, with the team blaming an electrical gremlin.

However, Juan Pablo Montoya arrived back at the McLaren pits after finishing 13th in that session complaining bitterly of a failing engine.

He said: “We don’t know what is going on, but running on the same revs I am about seven kilometres per hour down on Kimi with the same aerodynamic package.

“Unless we want to finish about 10th or 12th, then we should think about changing the engine, to be honest, but it is not my call.

“I think we will be okay in the race but on one lap we are struggling.”

But just a few minutes later, team principal Ron Dennis contradicted that view, insisting all was well with his Mercedes engines.

“The engines are absolutely fine,” he said. “There is no difference between the engines - there is a difference between the gearing.

“When you run in lower revs you end up with less than optimised engine mapping so it does make the engine a little uncomfortable to drive.

“When you move into racing and qualifying, the engine is different. The two engines are exactly the same, our engines are fine.”

Dennis did admit to frustration after Raikkonen was forced to abandon his car on the track when it suddenly stopped.

The Finn was left watching forlornly as marshals repeated a scene all too familiar to him from last year - his stricken McLaren being wheeled behind the barriers as the session continued without him.

Dennis admitted: “It’s a bit frustrating with the electrical failure on Kimi’s car, which is the first time in several years we have had that kind of failure.

“I’m not too concerned about that. We’ve had a lot of reliability over the last few weeks but no-one is perfect. It is very frustrating for us.”

While McLaren toiled and world champions Renault held back to keep their engines fresh, Honda test driver Anthony Davidson took centre stage with the fastest lap.

The driver, who as a tester is freed from the obligation to preserve an engine for fear of penalty, set the standard with a lap of one minute 31.353 seconds.

Former world champion Michael Schumacher was second quickest, with new team-mate Felipe Massa fourth, to hint at a return to form for Ferrari.

But Schumacher, who relinquished his title meekly last year, still fears Renault and his successor Alonso, who was fifth.

He said: “I still reckon there are four teams capable of winning, even if today perhaps some of them didn’t want to reveal all their potential.

“What is clear, however, is that Renault seem to be very quick straight out of the box which gives them an edge.”

Alonso took to the track for the first time with the number one on his Renault and his brief run hinted at a potential repeat of his 2005 win in Bahrain.

“It was a special moment to go out on the track with the number one on the car. I think we can have a competitive weekend.”

Renault’s winter rivals Honda did not make it into the top six, although that was more due to a conservative approach for Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. They ended up ninth and 18th respectively.