Red Bull to copy Mercedes
Shanghai: Once-dominant Formula One champions Red Bull are considering their technical options after failing to make the podium for the second race out of three so far this season.
Team principal Christian Horner told reporters after the Chinese Grand Prix that they could go down a similar route to Mercedes whose controversial rear wing has been declared legal.
Mercedes' German driver Nico Rosberg took a crushing first grand prix win, and a first for a Mercedes team since 1955, in Shanghai after securing a first pole position by a hefty margin.
"I think there's been a lot said and a lot of fuss about it [the wing]," Horner said. "They've optimized and capitalized on it so inevitably now we'll all pursue our own solutions.
Red Bull, now 24 points behind leaders McLaren, had held off doing anything while seeking a definitive clarification — which came in China when a formal protest by Lotus came to nothing.
Asked how long it might take Red Bull to get the development on the car, Horner was vague. "I think first of all, like any component, it has to earn a place on the car as a package," he declared.
The Mercedes wing contains slots on the inside of the endplates that are opened when the driver-activated drag reduction system (DRS) is used for extra speed within defined zones to aid overtaking.
The slots channel air through internal pipes to the front of the car which increases aerodynamic downforce.