• 2010 season

New teams looking to solve hydraulic problems

All three new teams are hoping to address problems they have had with their shared hydraulic system in testing and at the season opener in Bahrain.

Lotus, Virgin and HRT all use an XTrac transmission that was specifically designed to work with the new 2010 Cosworth engine. However, after continued problems with the system during testing and at the first race, the new teams are looking into solutions or ways around using it.

Heikki Kovalainen has revealed that Lotus is working on implementing its own hydraulic system "some time in July". He added: "I think it's absolutely the right way to go if we are to have full control over our car's hydraulics."

Virgin, whose cars retired with gearbox and hydraulic complaints, is hoping to find a more immediate solution. Its technical director Nick Wirth said improvements would be made in time for the next grand prix in Australia.

"We have some new parts which we hope will provide a robust solution to the new hydraulic problem and transmission issue we experienced in Bahrain," he said. "No one said the first few races would be easy and Bahrain was gruelling to say the least. But far better to flush out the problems early on and deal with them and that is exactly what we have been doing in the two week gap between these two races."

HRT boss Colin Kolles said this week that the Spanish team has been working "long hours" with XTrac since Bahrain, amid reports that his team will also upgrade the hydraulic system ahead of Melbourne.

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