Skip to main content

Sign up for free

  • Get quick access to your favorite articles

  • Manage alerts on breaking news and favorite drivers

  • Make your voice heard with article commenting.

Autosport Plus

Discover premium content
Subscribe

Recommended for you

LIVE: F1 Austrian GP updates - Antonelli leads Piastri in FP2, Norris spins off

Formula 1
Austrian GP
LIVE: F1 Austrian GP updates - Antonelli leads Piastri in FP2, Norris spins off

Snetterton replaces Silverstone as British GT season opener for 2027

British GT
Snetterton replaces Silverstone as British GT season opener for 2027

F1 Austrian GP: Antonelli pips Russell to top FP1, Norris hit with hydraulics issue

Formula 1
Austrian GP
F1 Austrian GP: Antonelli pips Russell to top FP1, Norris hit with hydraulics issue

Top 10 McLaren F1 drivers ranked: Senna, Prost, Hamilton and more

Formula 1
Top 10 McLaren F1 drivers ranked: Senna, Prost, Hamilton and more

Red Bull details Austrian GP updates; Audi, Cadillac bring improvements

Formula 1
Austrian GP
Red Bull details Austrian GP updates; Audi, Cadillac bring improvements

Verstappen targets Spa 24 Hours as he asks organisers to avoid F1 clash

Formula 1
Austrian GP
Verstappen targets Spa 24 Hours as he asks organisers to avoid F1 clash

WRC Acropolis Rally Greece: Neuville leads as puncture derails Fourmaux's charge

WRC
Rally Greece
WRC Acropolis Rally Greece: Neuville leads as puncture derails Fourmaux's charge

LIVE: F1 Austrian GP updates - Antonelli leads first practice, Norris misses most of session with hydraulic issue

Formula 1
Austrian GP
LIVE: F1 Austrian GP updates - Antonelli leads first practice, Norris misses most of session with hydraulic issue

Red Bull still puzzled by Singapore failure

Red Bull Racing are still at a loss to fully explain the cause of Mark Webber's gearbox failure in the Singapore Grand Prix, but remain suspicious that electronic interference from a passing metro tram may have triggered the problem

The Milton Keynes-based team have conducted a thorough examination of Webber's gearbox after the problem forced him out of the race at the Marina Bay circuit - and cost him a podium finish.

But neither their analysis nor that of third-party suppliers have provided a satisfactory explanation for why the gearbox tried to select two gears at once.

Suspicions about outside interference were prompted, however, after the sister car of Scuderia Toro Rosso's Sebastien Bourdais suffered a similar gearbox failure in Friday practice at almost the exact same location on the track - the run from Turn 12 to Turn 13.

The theory about metro tram interference has resulted in the team examining detailed maps of the Singapore track area to judge whether a passing train could have played a part.

That analysis shows that underneath the location where the failures on both cars first occurred is the path of the East-West Metro Line - where trains run every 12 minutes.

Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner said: "The post mortem on the gearbox is it is a complete rogue failure. Obviously components have gone back to third parties for inspection too - which they cannot explain either. It is frustrating.

"At the moment we cannot say specifically what caused the failure, whether it was caused by the bumps or whether it has been caused by static interference.

"It is easy to look at circumstantial evidence and put the blame somewhere else, but we are not pointing any fingers. It was our first gearbox failure of the season and we have to make sure we don't have another one."

Previous article Sutil calls for tougher pit penalties
Next article Honda trial new pit light system

Top Comments

Latest news