McLaren’s Formula One testing gremlins followed them from Jerez to Barcelona yesterday with Jenson Button sidelined after 21 laps of the Circuit de Catalunya.

The team said a faulty seal on the car’s MGU-K energy recovery unit had caused a problem that required the power unit to be replaced, bringing an early end to their first day of the second test in Spain.

Although the former champions hoped for “a productive day of running” with Spaniard Fernando Alonso now due in the car today, Honda’s Yasuhisa Arai sounded less positive.

“We’ll need to run a redesigned component to avoid a potential repeat of the problem,” he told reporters.

“Unfortunately, we won’t be in possession of that updated part until Saturday (tomorrow), which means that we may face the same problem when we run again tomorrow (today).”

Button’s 21 laps before lunchtime took McLaren’s entire pre-season tally to exactly 100 laps from five days so far – way off the 157 that Nico Rosberg did on day one in Jerez for champions Mercedes.

Both Alonso and Button managed only six laps each on their first days in Jerez, before the Spaniard did 32 on day three and the Briton 35 on day four.

McLaren and Honda are renewing a partnership that saw them celebrate multiple titles when they were last together from 1988 to 1992.

The Woking-based team have not won a race since 2012 and finished fifth overall last year. They have, however, undergone a thorough overhaul with double world champion Alonso joining from Ferrari.

“You don’t expect to be at the top of the mountain the day you start climbing.

“It takes time and you also have to prepare well,” group head Ron Dennis said last week.

“It’s going to be a challenging climb but it’s a climb that both Honda and McLaren have made several times together.”

Musical chairs

Meanwhile, Mercedes recalled German reserve Pascal Wehrlein from Force India testing duties yesterday after double Formula One world champion Lewis Hamilton was taken ill.

Hamilton completed 11 laps on the first day of the second pre-season test in Barcelona before the team said he was too unwell to continue.

Wehrlein, 20, was already on track at the Circuit de Catalunya as part of a deal to test for Mercedes-powered Force India, who are running their 2014 car because the new one is not yet finished.

“An unplanned stoppage keeping us off track at the moment. Lewis Hamilton is unwell and not able to continue driving today,” Mercedes said on their Twitter feed.

“So we’re adjusting the car for Pascal Wehrlein to take to the track this afternoon #musicalchairs.”

There is one more four-day test in Barcelona next week before the season starts in Australia on March 15.

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.