Renault has confirmed Nico Hulkenberg suffered a suspected MGU-K failure for the second consecutive race as the French manufacturer’s reliability woes continue at the start of t💎he 2019 Formula 1 s൩eason.

Both Hulkenberg and Daniওel Ricciardo failed to finish last time out in Bahrain with MGU-K-related problems which triggered an extensive investigation from Renault ahead of the Chinese Grand Prix.

All Renault-powered F1 cars were required to take a new specification of MGU-K unit in a bid to solve its unreliability but just 16 laps into the Chinese race Hulkenberg reported a drop in engine power which forced his ret🍒irement.

“It’s clearly a very disappointing race for us today, it was a difficult start to the race, I lost a position and it was tough following cars ahead,” Hulkenberg said. “We pitted and came out in some traffic, but then I fel🍌t a loss of power.

“We tried our best to fix it out ꦑthere as it looked like a software issue, but it 👍wasn’t possible and we had to park up. We’re looking into the issue, but it looks like an MGU-K related problem.

“We have things to 🍷work on ahead of the next race, but we will look at everything in detail and come back stron🔯ger.”

Renault boss Cyril Abite🥃boul confirms continued investigations into the mechanical problem will take place as it hopes to cure its unreliability in time for the next race, the Azerbaij🌠an Grand Prix, in two weeks time.

“Nico unfortunately retired with an MGU-K related problem that we will investigate further after this weekend,” Ab𝄹iteꦍboul said. “We will look at the weekend as a whole and our focus switches to the next race.”