Australian GP: Red Bull suspects engine vibrations in Kvyat failure

The Russian was unable to start his first race for the team since being promoted from Toro Rosso after stopping while on one of his laps to the grid.

"On Daniil's car, it looks like a gearbox issue," said Red Bull team principal Christian Horner.

"He broke fifth gear.

"Why? We don't know, it may have something to do with the oscillations we have seen from the engine."

If the engine is found to be cause of the gearbox problem, it caps off a poor weekend for Renault in Australia.

It suffered a V6 engine failure on Daniel Ricciardo's car during Friday practice, forcing a power unit change, and both Red Bull and Toro Rosso struggled with driveability.

"It has been a very tough weekend for Renault," said Horner.

"The engine is just quite undriveable. You can see and hear that from the comments that the drivers are making.

"The most clear evidence is off the start.

"Daniel got a pretty reasonable initial start, then driveability comes in and you can see the holes in the power delivery, so there is a lot to be done."

Kvyat will now have to wait until the Malaysian GP in two weeks time to make his debut for the team.

"Obviously, it's not a nice feeling to watch the other drivers on track while you are here," said Kvyat.

"From now on, it can only get better so we are staying positive.

"I have confidence in the team. We have another race in two weeks and will be pushing as hard as we can."