After more than a year of preparations, McLaren-Honda’s interim F1 test car MP4-29H/1X1 made its official track debut at the FIA testing session at the Yas Marina Circuit in Abu Dhabi on Tuesday.

The first outing wasn’t without problems, though, as electronic gremlins kept the McLaren-Honda development car in the pits for most of the first afternoon, with F1 reserve driver Stoffel Vandoorne completing only three laps in eight hours of driving on the circuit.

“We’d hoped to get a few more laps under our belts today. But the team are already analysing the situation and we’ll hopefully cure it ahead of tomorrow,” said Vandoorne. “The purpose of this test is to enable the engineers to deepen their knowledge of the McLaren and Honda collaboration. This is their first time working together at the track, and – operationally – it’s all a bit different,” he added.

Eric Boullier, McLaren’s Racing Director, said that they’re still looking into the problems that appeared during the test runs.

“Running a modern Formula 1 car is a very complicated procedure – and this week’s test is all about how the departments at Sakura, Milton Keynes and Woking learn to integrate with the operational hub at the circuit,” said Boullier. “We encountered a number of issues, including a lengthy check of electrical installations this morning, but it’s satisfying to see that we got the engine fired up, the car out of the garage, and some laps on the board.”

The new F1 car rides on a chassis developed by McLaren and is powered by a brand-new 1.6-liter turbocharged V6 with an energy recovery system made by Honda.

Speaking about the new V6, Honda’s Chief Motorsports Officer, Yasuhisa Arai, said: “The engine we used today is still under development – it’s not for the actual race – and we’re on schedule to develop it further ahead of the forthcoming season. There are a few more steps coming before Australia.”

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