Buemi confident Putrajaya reliability issue solved

After a dominant win in the season-opening Beijing race, Buemi was on course to double up in Malaysia last month before a software issue forced the Swiss driver to pit prematurely - only for him to suffer the same problem with his second car.

The ex-Toro Rosso F1 driver eventually finished out of the points in 12th, handing the championship lead to race winner Lucas di Grassi.

But Buemi is confident that there will be no repeat of the problem, which was thought to have been caused by the extreme temperatures at Putrajaya, this weekend at Punta del Este.

“We tried to reproduce the problem we had in the race in Malaysia, and we managed to do so,” explained Buemi to Motorsport.com.

“So now we found the solution, and hopefully we will not see this problem ever again.

“You never know, if we find another problem, but at the moment we are confident that this should not happen anymore.”

Buemi was also keen to play down the championship favourite tag his early-season pace has earned him.

“I don't really like people to say that because we are not leading the championship,” he said. “Clearly we've shown we have a good pace, but that doesn't mean that we are so much better.

“You need to finish the race if you want to score points, and Abt [Audi Sport] is leading the championship so far. So yes, we have a good car, but still we don't take anything for granted.

“I learned the lesson last year that every point counts. So that is why I'm trying to fight for fastest laps and pole positions, because that could be a good advantage.”

Interview by Federico Faturos