F1 News
This is how much money it cost Red Bull Racing to change the rear wing
- GPblog.com
In recent weeks there has been a lot of talk about the flexible rear wing. Mercedes pointed at Red Bull Racing's moving rear wing, but also other teams are said to be pushing the limits. According to Christian Horner, his team hasn't done anything wrong, but the changes will cost a lot of money.
After the Spanish Grand Prix Lewis Hamilton pointed at Red Bull Racing's rear wing. It was the start of the discussion about the flexible rear wing. What is allowed and what is not allowed? Red Bull is sure that they comply with the rules, but Mercedes thinks otherwise. The FIA has introduced new tests, and the teams will have to comply with those.
Horner thinks of a budget cap
It does mean that the teams will have to make adjustments for the French Grand Prix, and that costs money. ''Well, I think for a team like us that is obviously running up against the cap, then of course strategically you have to make choices. The impact of something like this is probably about half a million dollars so you’ve got to… that will prevent something else from happening, so that’s the juggling act that we’re now having to make with the budget cap and financial regs'', Christian Horner said at the press conference.
However, Red Bull won't lose much performance when modifying the rear wing. ''Well, it’s difficult to quantify but it’s... You know it’s not as much as people think. I’ve heard comments of six-tenths being bandied around which is ludicrous. I mean if you’re talking about a tenth, I’d be surprised. Yeah, and all these things have to work in conjunction with every other component on the car, so that’s going to vary from circuit to circuit'', the Briton concludes.