Red Bull facing exclusion

Concern after second suspension failure

Last updated: 21st March 2008

david coulthard red bull malaysian gp practice 21/3/2008

Coulthard: Suspension worry

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Red Bull could face exclusion from this weekend's Malaysian Grand Prix unless they can convince race stewards the suspension on their cars is safe.

David Coulthard was forced to sit out of Friday's second free practice session after the front suspension of his RB4 car disintegrated when he hit a kerb after running wide exiting turn 12 at Sepang.

The Scot's car suffered similarly during last Sunday's Australian Grand Prix after a collision with Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

Team principal Christian Horner, chief technology officer Adrian Newey and team manager Jonathan Wheatley met race stewards after the second practice session in Malaysia in order to provide an explanation for the latest accident.

Report

The stewards have also demanded a full report from Red Bull as an assurance that their cars will be safe enough to compete.

"The stewards, having met with the team principal and technical representative of Red Bull Racing in relation to the incident involving car nine in practice one, have requested that the competitor provide to the FIA technical delegate a report verifying that the integrity of the suspension is such that the car should not be deemed 'of dangerous constructions' under article 2.3 of the 2008 Formula One Technical Regulations," a statement read.

Article 2.3 of the FIA regulations states the "stewards of the meeting may exclude a vehicle whose construction is deemed to be dangerous".

Explaining the accident, Horner said: "It was a brand new component fitted after Melbourne.

"You can see that the adhesives failed and it just looked like a human error. So we have absolutely no concerns about the car's safety."

Worries

Meanwhile, Coulthard's team-mate Mark Webber, whose own participation at his home race last weekend ended on lap one after he was tagged by Super Aguri's Anthony Davidson, has revealed his own worries over the ease with which his car was damaged.

"I'm a bit concerned," he said.

"My impact was so light, it was just a brush really, and it broke the rear track rod so looking at Monte Carlo and places like that, it changes your attitude to the barriers a little bit."