F1 News, Reports and Race Results

Red Bull still aiming to fix DRS oscillation issue for Jeddah

Christian Horner says Red Bull will need to solve its rear wing oscillation issues on its low-downforce element as the latter could be required in the final two races of the 2021 season.

In Qatar, Red Bull identified early on during the weekend a problem on the rear wing of its RB16B whereby the upper plane of the element flapped incessantly when DRS was open.

The team struggled to get control of the issue and ultimately solved the conundrum by mounting a different, higher downforce wing, which was its preferred choice at the outset according to Horner.

But track layouts in Saudi Arabia and Abu Dhabi are likely to compel Red Bull to run a medium or lower downforce package, which implies bringing back its Qatar rear wing.

"That was our preferred wing and it was the setup direction that we wanted to go in," commented Horner, alluding to the high downforce element that was used in qualifying and therefore on race day in Qatar.

"If those other wings are required in either Jeddah or Abu Dhabi, obviously we’ll need to have fixes in place to straighten them up, and the DRS mechanism."

Although the actuator that commands the drag reduction system is a 2021 homologated component that cannot be changed, Horner is confident that Red Bull will get on top of the problem in time for next week's round of racing in Jeddah.

"I think from a reliability point of view it should be relatively - hopefully - straightforward to sort out those actuators.

"We've been using them for many years now, so it's not a new technology."

Gallery: The beautiful wives and girlfriends of F1 drivers

Keep up to date with all the F1 news via Facebook and Twitter

Michael Delaney

Recent Posts

Sao Paulo GP: Saturday's action in pictures

Saturday's proceedings were cut short due to a heavy rain storm rolling into Sao Paulo…

58 seconds ago

Sao Paulo GP qualifying postponed after repeated delays

The FIA has postponed Saturday’s Sao Paulo Grand Prix qualifying session due to adverse weather…

24 mins ago

McLaren: Team orders always ‘make life difficult for ourselves’

McLaren's successful 1-2 finish in the Brazilian Sprint race came with a dose of complexity,…

3 hours ago

Verstappen demoted to P4 following VSC infringement in Sprint

Max Verstappen has been demoted from third to fourth in the final standings of Saturday’s…

4 hours ago

Norris thanks Piastri for handing Sprint win, but not ‘proud’

Lando Norris secured victory in Saturday's Sprint event in Sao Paulo thanks to a McLaren…

5 hours ago

São Paulo GP: Norris handed sprint win by Piastri

McLaren clinched a valuable 1-2 sweep of the São Paulo sprint race, with polesitter Oscar…

6 hours ago