Horner accepts McLaren apology

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has accepted McLaren's apology for the technical glitch that hindered Mark Webber in Australia.

Prior to the start of the Australian Grand Prix at Melbourne's Albert Park, Webber's car was affected by an ECU (electronic control unit) issue.

McLaren Electronics Systems (MES), a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, has provided standard ECUs for all teams in Formula One over the past few years.

With a new upgraded system in place for this year, teams encountered problems with it during testing, with Red Bull and Webber caught out by the gremlins moments before the race began.

The Australian's car lost all telemetry, and most importantly KERS, which resulted in him dropping from second on the grid to seventh early on the opening lap.

Horner was far from happy, and following an investigation by MES, a software-related fault was discovered as the problem for which they have since offered their apologies.

Asked as to whether that was sufficient, Horner said: "It was gracious of McLaren to stick their hand up and apologise. The apology was accepted.

"It was an issue, and hopefully they will get on top of them quickly, with the most important thing being to learn from what happened in Melbourne."

After the problems in testing and on Sunday, MES have made clear they are working hard to avoid a further recurrence.

Horner added: "I haven't spoken to the other teams, but there are glitches, and yes, it is complicated software.

"Unfortunately, we buy a product and you expect it to be right."

One of the reasons stated by MES is they have brought the new system in a year early given it was supposed to go hand in hand with the new engine which should have been introduced this year.

Although the engine programme was pushed back to next year, MES opted to plough on with the new ECU.

"There are always reasons behind everything," said Horner.

"We ran the ECU for the first time at the young driver test last year where there were an awful lot of problems.

"They've worked very hard to get on top of those issues, and the majority of them have been sorted.

"But it is frustrating when an issue like we had compromised a race start and the preparation for the race in Melbourne.

"But McLaren took it on the chin, apologised and said they are working hard to get on top of it.

"We will respect that, accept the apology, and if we can do anything to help support them then it's in our interest as well."