21.3.08

I see Coulthards front suspension disintegrated after hitting a bump in Malaysia. The team has blamed ........

May be...

  • I think the issue here is not the carbon fibre but the minimal strength of some cars when they take impacts from unusual angles. Last week when Massa ploughed into DC, the Red Bull looked very delicate with wheels and parts flying off in multiple directions while the Ferrari carried on. Yesterday, while DC hit the wrong side of the kerb, the explosion of parts again suggested the Red Bull was fragile. He and Webber must have guts to drive that thing.
  • I don't know why out of all the cars on the grid it was only the Redbull car that suffered suspension problems. In qualifying last week, Webber also suffered from some sort of brake disk failure so maybe it's the overall reliability of their cars.
  • I'm rather surprised that no-one has seemed to mention the fact that in Australia, Coulthards suspension on his Red Bull looked it collapsed under the weight of the car as he collided with Massa. It was intriguing in that I'd never seen a car's suspension just break like that, in what was essentially a minor collision. The way the suspension broke was very similar to Glock's incident later in the race, but that was a much larger incident compared to DC's. The number of times I have seen a car on two wheels in an incident like that meant it was a shock to see his car fall apart in such a way. Compare it too to the way Massa's car kept going ok after as well, when it was his car that bore the brunt of the crash.

    I just think there is some sort of design flaw in the Red Bull that means it is very very fragile in higher load areas, such as the Massa collision and the bumps today. It should be very worrying to Adrian Newey, who to me seems past his prime. His cars now seem to be sacrificing stability and reliability for speed, speed that isn't even front-running. All the other cars use similar bonding systems and the like and have no problems, so to me it looks like a design issue.
  • Yes I saw that. Reminds me more of Airfix than cutting edge technology.
  • since F1 cars are under such strick guidelines i dont think they have much choice on what to use. carbon fiber is about the only lightest and strongest thing availible to them that can withstand the forces during the race and protect the driver if there is a crash. bonding agents are usually a quick and cheap way of repairing damage or strengthening certain parts.
  • ......adhesives. Do you think that there are still areas of car construction that should avoid the use of carbon fibre and bonding ?
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