BAR concerned by Sato engine problems

BAR boss David Richards admitted that he is concerned by Takuma Sato's continuing engine problems, after the Japanese retired from the French Grand Prix with yet another failure. Sato has had four engines blow in the last five races and it's damaging BAR's hopes of fighting Renault for second in the construtors' standings.

Takuma Sato.

Photo by LAT Photographic.

"We have got to try and work out what is happening to Taku because it is costing us dearly," said Richards. "I know there is a lot of head scratching going on within Honda about that at the moment."

"Looking back, the last six races would have been a big points tally. We don't seem to be able to analyse the problem, which is quite extraordinary. It is mystifying. Honda are a very proud company and it is a very big issue for them."

Sato retired from the race after his first pit stop. "I immediately felt a loss of power after the pitstop and we knew there was a problem down the main straight but there was nothing we could do," he explained. "It was a different problem than before -- not sudden but gradual."

With the British Grand Prix only a few days away, Honda has a lot of work to do to find a solution. "It is a shame that Taku's engine failed again so we will work very hard this week to find the cause and put a counter measure in place for the next race at Silverstone," said engineering director Shuhei Nakamoto.