McLaren’s rosy day was brightened further by Red Bull’s troubles, as Vettel’s
time behind the wheel was brought to a premature end after just eight laps
of running.
Early in the afternoon the four-time champion suffered an energy store issue
on his engine, in what has been a worrying two days for the three
Renault-powered teams in Jerez.
While the four Mercedes engine teams completed a total of 212 laps yesterday,
with 97 for Mercedes Nico Rosberg, the Renault teams managed just 19. Red
Bull’s woes come after they only made it on track 15 minutes from the end of
the first day, due to a “silly” problem in which a part of the car
was fitted incorrectly.
Vettel’s new team-mate, Australian Daniel Ricciardo, will drive the car today,
as Red Bull attempt to put vital mileage on their 2014 car. All the teams
are grappling with major changes to the cars for this season, and
reliability is expected to dominate the early races.
McLaren announced Boullier’s appointment to the newly-created role of Racing
Director at the team, after he resigned from his position at Lotus last
Friday. He said it was “an honour” and a “privilege” to
be joining McLaren.
As part of a major management restructuring at McLaren, after Ron Dennis
regained control in an internal coup earlier this month, Boullier will run
the team at race weekends but will report to the new position of Chief
Executive Officer of McLaren Racing.
The team are yet to announce who will fill the role, and while it is not
thought there is any one candidate lined up, yesterday’s announcement will
fuel rumours that Dennis is seeking to bring Ross Brawn to the Woking-based
outfit. Brawn left Mercedes at the end of 2013 to take a break from the
sport, but internal changes at McLaren have prompted speculation he could be
set for an early return.
The role of team principal, currently held by Martin Whitmarsh, will
effectively be made redundant as part of the restructuring. Whitmarsh was
not even mentioned in yesterday’s announcement after he played no part in
the launch of McLaren’s 2014 car last week.
Dennis, who took Whitmarsh’s job as CEO of the McLaren Group earlier this
month, regaining control of the Formula One operation, said Boullier’s
appointment was “integral” to the restructuring at McLaren.
McLaren endured their worst season since 1980 last year, finishing behind
Boullier’s Lotus in the constructors, who operate on a comparatively
shoestring budget. But in a more positive start to 2014, Button ended the
day in southern Spain fastest with a 1 min 24.1 sec lap, after a wet
morning.