Red Bull Racing 'not involved' in qualifying fuel debacle

Red Bull has distanced itself from the blame, following Sebastian Vettel's disastrous qualifying session in Abu Dhabi last weekend. Disqualified from the session after scrutineers could not extract the necessary litre of fuel for sampling, the championship leader had been asked to stop the car urgently following advice from engine supplier Renault.

It emerges that Renault feared damage to the engine and other systems if Vettel's RB8 had been left to run completely out of fuel. "We saw some numbers going down," said Vettel, "and in order to save the engine, save the pumps in between etcetera, we decided to stop the car, convinced that we had enough fuel in the car to provide a sample."

So why wasn't enough fuel put in the car for the decisive qualifying session? "It's difficult," team boss Christian Horner is quoted by Germany's RTL, "because Renault was sure there was enough fuel in the car. What happens is the engineers for the engine side calculate the amount of fuel to be put into the car. As a team, we (Red Bull) are not involved in it," he insisted. (GMM)

Order your Red Bull Racing merchandise here!

Replies (0)

Login to reply

AZ Azerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

AZAzerbaijan Grand Prix

Local time 

Test calendar

See full test schedule

World Championship standings 2026

Show full world champion standings

Related news

Give your opinion!

Will Bottas challenge Hamilton for the world championship in 2020?

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix
Circuit
-
Spain
-
Bahrain
-
Bahrain
6 - Mar 8
Australia
13 - Mar 15
China
27 - Mar 29
Japan
10 - Apr 12
Bahrain
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia
1 - May 3
United States of America
22 - May 24
Canada
5 - Jun 7
Monaco
12 - Jun 14
Spain
See full schedule

Formula 1 Calendar - 2026

Date
Grand Prix & Circuit
6 - Mar 8
Australia Albert Park
13 - Mar 15
27 - Mar 29
10 - Apr 12
17 - Apr 19
Saudi Arabia Jeddah Street Circuit
1 - May 3
United States of America Miami International Autodrome
22 - May 24
5 - Jun 7
Monaco Monte Carlo
12 - Jun 14
See full schedule

Driver profile

  • Team Aston Martin
  • Points 1,480
  • Podiums 56
  • Grand Prix 161
  • Country DE
  • Date of b. Jul 3 1987 (38)
  • Place of b. Heppenheim, DE
  • Weight 62 kg
  • Length 1.75 m
Show full profile

Team profile

Show full profile
show sidebar