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Fernando Alonso is likely to have a new Renault power unit in the Australian Grand Prix as the one that failed in his Alpine Formula 1 car in Saudi Arabia can no longer be used.
The Alpine driver was on course to finish sixth in Jeddah before slowing to a halt.
Analysis of the power unit back in France revealed it was caused by a water pump problem leading to overheating, as first reported by AutoHebdo.
Alpine CEO Laurent Rossi told the French publication that the location of the pump means a sealed part of the power unit would need to be broken to access it.
As a result, Alonso will not be using that engine again. It means he could switch to a third power unit in three races this weekend in Melbourne.
Alonso was already using a second power unit of the season in Saudi Arabia as a precaution after an issue in the first race in Bahrain, but that first power unit is at least expected to be re-used this year.
However, he is now certain to need to exceed the limit for power unit components later this season, which will eventually mean a grid penalty.
It means the two-time world champion has had a pair of early setbacks, in what has otherwise been an encouraging start for a massively different Renault power unit design.
Significant changes have been made including revising the architecture to split the turbo and compressor, a move pioneered by Mercedes.
Alpine said the new engine had run reliably through pre-season testing and Esteban Ocon has had none of Alonso’s problems in the first two grands prix.
More importantly, the new design appears to have cut into the engine deficit the Renault power units had long suffered from.
Alonso even said after his retirement in Saudi Arabia: “I think we are in the ballpark now with the others. We could battle on the straights with other people here and in Bahrain.”
Ocon added: “It was good. We didn’t have to be shy of anybody. As soon as I had the DRS open I could pass, I could overtake easily the Aston Martin and McLaren.
“I could compare many different cars and it was working well for us.”
