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HWA Formula E team gets upgrade after run of driveshaft trouble

Gary Paffett believes the Rome E-Prix will be the greatest test of HWA's problematic driveshaft, after manufacturer Venturi provided it with an upgrade for this weekend's ABB FIA Formula E race

HWA team boss Ulrich Fritz had described the team's repeated driveshaft failures as "annoying" at Sanya after Paffett had been forced to retire from the race with similar issues to those that had affected both HWA drivers in Hong Kong.

Fritz had suggested the problem was a "quality issue" but recognised Venturi had been working with suppliers to resolve it.

The product is manufactured by an outside party rather than Venturi itself.

Ahead of the Rome E-Prix, an HWA spokesperson confirmed to Autosport that the team had received an update to its driveshaft.

Asked if HWA had confidence that its driveshaft problem had been fixed, Paffett told Autosport: "I think so.

"This is the most demanding circuit for driveshafts, particularly with the jump at the top of the hill - that's really tough for them as the driveshaft moves up and down a lot on the bumps.

"We've got some upgrades on that this weekend and hopefully that will solve it."

Vandoorne told Autosport that "we will see this weekend" whether the problem is fixed.

"There have been some updates trying to solve the issue," he added.

"We've got to hope for the best and see how it goes."

HWA's first season in FE, ahead of Mercedes taking over its entry for its 2019/20 series debut, has been blighted by reliability issues.

Paffett said that "every weekend brings a new problem to overcome" so far this season, but is hopeful HWA will turn the corner in Rome.

He added: "Hopefully we've collected enough problems now that we won't find any new ones!

"You get to every weekend thinking you've learned a lot and are on top of things.

"Then you get to the next race and something else happens, and you think 'OK we've not thought of that one before'.

"Hopefully this weekend we can go through it with not too many problems. That's the key.

"We maybe don't have the fastest car, but we have a car fast enough to be scoring points each weekend.

"That's what we need to try and do, and try not to make many mistakes."

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