Red Bulls excluded from qualifying?
Has Red Bull played with fire regarding its engine mapping? In any case, the FIA has issued a statement saying that the cars of Sebastian Vettel and Mark Webber would be in violation of technical regulations.
Mark Webber had already received a five-place grid penalty due to his gearbox change, dropping him from third to eighth place on the grid. But this time, it’s a straightforward suspension from the qualifying session for both Red Bull cars that is at stake.
Indeed, shortly before 10 a.m. on this Sunday morning, Jo Bauer, the FIA’s technical delegate, issued an unequivocal statement of what he thought: After examining the engine torque mapping of cars 1 and 2, it appeared that the maximum torque of both engines is significantly lower at mid-range than what had been observed for these engines at other events. In my opinion, this conflicts with Article 5.5.3 of the 2012 Formula 1 Technical Regulations since the engines are capable of providing more torque at mid-range. Moreover, this new mapping will artificially alter the aerodynamic characteristics of the two cars, which also contradicts technical directive 036-11».
The FIA stewards therefore met to deliberate on the fate of the two drivers and their cars. They could be excluded from the qualifying session, which would push them to the back of the grid, or they might have to start from the pit lane.
We will obviously keep you informed as soon as we have more information on the subject.
From our correspondent in Hockenheim
