- Australian Grand Prix
McLaren suspects adjustable ride-height on Red Bull
- Race:
- Australian Grand Prix
- Championship:
- FIA Formula One World Championship
- Drivers:
- Martin Whitmarsh
- Picture Gallery:
- Australian Grand Prix Qualifying
McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh has suggested Red Bull's car might be hiding a controversial driver-adjustable ride-height system, after the two RB6s dominated qualifying in Melbourne.
The difference between a car laden with fuel for the start of the race and one running on fumes in qualifying is so great that the weight of the petrol physically alters the height of the car. This means most teams have to run the car relatively high in qualifying, at a disadvantage, in order to compensate for the weight of the full tank needed to start the race. But during qualifying on Saturday, on-board footage from Mark Webber's Red Bull appeared to show the car occasionally bottoming-out.
McLaren boss Whitmarsh told the BBC after the session that, following a similar situation in Bahrain, he wondered why the Red Bulls were not "dragging their arses on full tanks" in the race. He said it is "evidence of ride-height control systems" being in use, "which many people wouldn't have thought were permissible".
In the wake of last year's diffuser row, and the McLaren F-duct saga in Bahrain, F1 could now be set for its next technical controversy. Whitmarsh said McLaren is now "working quite hard" on implementing a Red Bull-like ride-height system, and "hopefully by China we'll have something on the car".
© ESPN Sports Media Ltd.
Australian Grand Prix 2010
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