Cosworth made their comeback to Formula One in Bahrain, supplying four teams on the grid; Williams, Lotus, Virgin and Hispania.
Cosworth’s General F1 Manager, Mark Gallagher was satisfied with the engine manufacturers return, although the new teams were hampered by reliability issues, they did manage to secure a point with Rubens Barrichello and Williams.
“After the many months of work developing and implementing our return as an engine supplier to Formula One it was good to finally get the racing underway.
“It was satisfying to see all four of our teams in action and to witness the three new teams enjoy their Formula One debuts. From an engine performance point of view, I think we can be very satisfied with the performance of the CA2010 in Bahrain.
“Both AT&T Williams drivers finished the race with Rubens picking up a championship point for tenth, while Lotus Racing achieved a significant milestone in having both cars secure a classified finish and produce a step-change in performance as a result of being able to race so effectively.”
Despite four of the eight cars supplied not finishing, both Cosworth and the teams have learnt a lot from the weekend.
“From a Cosworth perspective both teams worked well and although hampered by reliability issues, good progress was clearly being made. Virgin Racing have been able to take a lot of positives out of the weekend and Saturday’s qualifying performance demonstrated the potential in the Virgin-Cosworth VR01.
“In HRT’s case, the mere fact that they got two cars ready for the race was an achievement in itself and, in that respect, Cosworth’s provision of the full electronics solution in only three weeks was a key factor.”
Bruno Senna retired from the race with an apparent engine failure, it’s now known the engine failed due to a faulty water fitting, causing the engine to lose water.
“Bruno Senna’s retirement was caused by a broken water fitting from the radiator which meant he lost all the water from his car. The implications of that failure on his engine were apparent for all to see and the engine is being returned to our headquarters.
“Overall, it has been a solid start to Cosworth’s 2010 season, in terms of engine performance and reliability, as well as with our specific electronics support to Lotus Racing and HRT.”
