David Coulthard endured his second big crash of what could be his last season in Formula One yesterday, prompting an investigation by the stewards and the possibility that Red Bull could be banned from tomorrow’s Malaysian Grand Prix because their cars are unsafe.
His Red Bull RB4, designed by Adrian Newey, slewed off the track before recrossing the racing surface at right angles. As it hit the edge of the tarmac, the car suffered catastrophic damage, with both front wheels and the front wing exploding off the chassis.
The extent of the damage mirrored similar consequences for Coulthard’s car when he was involved in a crash with Felipe Massa’s Ferrari during the Australian Grand Prix a week ago. On that occasion, Coulthard hit Massa as the Brazilian was trying to overtake on the inside at a corner. While the Ferrari continued the race unaffected, the Red Bull suffered severe failure in its suspension and chassis and looked as if it had fallen apart.
“Mechanical failures are part and parcel of grand prix racing unfortunately,” Coulthard said. “We did 10,000 kilometres testing in the car. It was just a new part which did just six laps. It was just a fault in the manufacturing process and game over. There was so much damage and, with the regulations banning us using a spare car, it was impossible to fix in time.”
However, the former McLaren Mercedes driver also remarked that he was lucky the accident happened at the Sepang circuit, which has plenty of run-off area, unlike a track such as Spa in Belgium, where grandstands are much closer to the racing line. “I am glad it happened here rather than Spa… otherwise you’d be picking bits of me out of the grandstand right now,” Coulthard said. “Formula One is a dangerous sport. Things occasionally fail.”
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