Red Bull’s new RB5 lasted just 14 laps yesterday in its first ever outing at the Jerez circuit in Spain. At the hands of Sebastian Vettel the car was shaken down but gearbox trouble – a recurrent theme in cars designed by the team’s chief designer Adrian Newey – prevented further running at the track.
Christian Horner, the team principal, confirmed that the gearbox had indeed been the source of the problem.
”We stopped the car as a precautionary measure because the gearbox oil temperature was beginning to rise,” Horner is quoted as saying by German news agency GMM.
Reports from the track also indicate that the team were being secretive about their diffuser arrangements. The rumours come after controversy surrounded Williams and Toyota, who were believed to have performance-enhancing rear wing and diffuser arrangements. The FIA has since implied that both teams’ diffusers are race-legal. However, no direct protest from other teams can be lodged, nor definitive stewards’ verdict reached, until pre-race scrutineering in Melbourne.
