Red Bull’s ‘failed’ crash test has received a lot of attention in recent weeks. However, this does not have to be terrible news for the Milton Keynes-based team. In fact, it may be a really favorable indication as we enter the new season.
What is a crash test, exactly? To maintain high safety requirements in Formula 1, teams must submit their chassis to a crash test every year.
If a team fails the test, the chassis is not permitted to race. A chassis is assessed for front impact, rear impact, and side impact safety. The average speed is between 36 and 54 kph.
When it comes to how a chassis absorbs impact, these speeds produce the most realistic findings.
A driver’s so-called survival cell must always be entirely intact, and a driver must not be subjected to more than 60G within 0.03 seconds of impact, for example, in the case of a frontal impact. A total of roughly 20 tests will be conducted.
According to Red Bull, the first crash test for the new automobile went wrong, producing a lot of noise. When asked about it, Red Bull Motorsport Advisor Helmut Marko said, “If we had passed the first crash test, that would be exactly a problem.” Then we would have failed miserably!”
A word of caution to the competition?
And there’s a grain of truth in there somewhere. Passing the crash test requires a certain amount of weight. The better the chassis can absorb impact, the heavier the car.
So, if you want to gamble with the weight of your new automobile, you might fail a crash test once in your pursuit of faster lap times. This has happened multiple times before with no consequences.
