Image courtesy of Infiniti Red Bull Racing
Red Bull have confirmed the cause behind Daniil Kvyat’s brake problems, pointing to the overheating of a hub.
The team’s troubles with brake wear following the Malaysian Grand Prix continued in today’s second practice session as Kvyat ended up limping slowly around the Shanghai International circuit after leaving the Red Bull pits with fire in his left-rear wheel. He eventually came to a stop at the outside of Turn 14.
Team principal Christian Horner said the brake problems encountered on Kvyat’s car was down to a part of the rear hub assembly overheating and is seen as a “one-off” issue.
“Something overheated within the rear hub assembly,” Horner told AUTOSPORT. “As a result of that we lost pressure in the master cylinder half way round the lap.
“We asked him to drive back slowly without using the brakes if at all possible, but unfortunately he had to brake at turn 14 and he had a very slow off.
The brake failure cut short Kvyat’s Friday running although Horner doesn’t expect the brake failure to hinder further running for Kvyat in tomorrow’s sessions.
“It’s frustrating it’s happened, but all the relevant pieces are intact so we can find out what the root cause was.
“Today was a one-off and can be sorted for tomorrow.”
