Williams has revealed an electrical problem as the culprit that caused Felipe Massa to stop his FW40 on track during FP2 in Melbourne, curtailing his running.
Massa had emerged from the first session in 7th, but his car came to a halt at Turn 10 in the second, just as the Brazilian had fitted a set of Ultrasoft tyres for some low-fuel laps.
Despite the fact that the problem ended his day early, Williams has said that it will not reoccur for Massa in FP3 on Saturday morning. Explaining what had happened after abandoning the car, Massa said: "The track was still a little bit dirty and then suddenly we had this issue in the car.
"I went into neutral and couldn't select any gears, which meant that I lost the opportunity to try the Ultrasoft tyres and do any long runs. It's a shame that we did thousands of kilometres in Barcelona and then had this issue here, but I don't think it's a serious thing, which is positive. We need to concentrate 100 per cent tomorrow and I really hope things can go the right way."
Massa's new team-mate Lance Stroll finished FP2 in 16th, having approached the day tentatively on an unfamiliar track, and after his best lap was slowed by the appearance of a yellow flag: "It is not a track I have been to before, so I can't just go out and push to the limit," he explained.
"I have to build up to it, which is what I was doing today, and still leaving a bit of a margin. There is not a lot of room for error on this track, but it is fun and so far I have really enjoyed driving it, but FP2 was quite a scruffy session for me.
"The first run was alright, but then on the second one it was a shame as there was a yellow flag so I had to abort the lap, which meant we missed out on that one lap on the Ultrasofts we wanted."
Mason Hawker
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Bahrain International Circuit - Winter testing
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