While Red Bull Racing has voiced its concerns about the Mercedes rear wing, it is facing problems of its own, criticized by its fierce Formula 1 title rivals.
Not for the first time this season, the Red Bull mechanics were able to fix another problem with the DRS actuator and mechanism in Free Practice 2 in Qatar on Friday evening.
The fault is easy to spot on the track, as the upper flap of the rear wing begins to swing at high speed when the DRS is activated. In Qatar FP2, Sergio Perez’s car was affected and he lost time in the pits during repairs.
This not only caused damage to the actuator and mechanism, but the team had to repair and mend the rear wing several times over the course of the last few races, as cracks appeared at various points on the wing, which induced the stress.
This can only be due to the parts nearing the end of their life cycle, which has become a bigger problem for the teams this year due to the expanded calendar and working against a background of a cost cap. However, it may also be because the team is pushing their wing setup to get extra performance from the DRS while they have to work under this year’s homologation system.
The DRS – or rear wing adjuster, as it is called in the technical regulations – was one of the parts that were frozen until 2021, with only two options being allowed to be homologated in order to take into account different downforce levels.
Red Bull Racing RB16B DRS comparison
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
In order to redesign this for 2021, a team would have to issue a development token, which Red Bull hasn’t done as it has spent the two at its disposal on a new gearbox carrier.
If so, it is very likely that this problem will persist for the remainder of the season as the team essentially has to work with what it has while looking for small features.
But in an interview with Martin Brundle from Sky Sports F1 before the race in Interlagos last weekend, Toto Wolff from Mercedes Red Bull called for these repeated wing repairs to be carried out under Parc Ferme conditions in America, Mexico and Brazil.
But the FIA’s Michael Masi has since denied any preferential treatment or preferential treatment to Red Bull on the matter.
“From our point of view, we treat every single request in the same way, consistently, look at every single one,” says Masi. “The thing is, if we see something with the team being systematic across a series of events, then we ask them to change that part permanently.
“A lot of things come together. So no, I don’t think there are any inconsistencies. “
The post What’s wrong with Red Bull’s fluttering F1 rear wing first appeared on monter-une-startup.
