After David Coulthard’s huge suspension failure in Friday Practice 1, the race stewards spoke to Red Bull boss Christian Horner and chief technology officer Adrian Newey. If the stewards deem the Red Bull car to be unsafe, the Red Bull team could be disqualified from the event.
Eyebrows were raised in Australia when David’s bodywork crumbled after contact with Felipe Massa. This time, David ran a little wide, over the kerb, where he hit a small divot and his front suspension fell apart. It was a much smaller bump than the one Timo Glock managed to hit in Melbourne, and you would think that the cars should be strong enough to avoid decimation on a slight impact.
According to the FIA, the Red Bull team must verify that “the suspension is such that the car should not be deemed ‘of dangerous construction'”, which is covered in article 2.3 of the technical regulations. Christian Horner says he has no concerns over the safety of the car, saying it was “a brand new component fitted after Melbourne”, and it was an adhesive failure that let to the collapse of the front of the car.
Even so, this will do nothing to put confidence into the people who feel the sport is unsafe.
Filed under: Toro Presso | Tagged: bull, coulthard, david, f1, formula one, malaysia, red, sepang |
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I don’t imagine it’d be much comfort for DC or MW if the car is so susceptible to falling to pieces; hopefully it’s a quick fix for RBR – the damage and danger to life caused by these machines falling apart under the extreme stresses and strains doesn’t bare thinking about…
Incidentally, another Ferrari failure – albeit in practice this time – with Raikkonen’s car. So, what do you think has caused them so many reliability issues already this season? Is it anything to do with the McLaren-manufactured standard ECU – as Ferrari seem to be stating?