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We're not the only ones - Coulthard complains of inconsistency from the FIA

Published by Christine

In David Coulthard's latest column for ITV, he talks about yet another missed opportunity in Germany, the comparisons between Toro Rosso and Red Bull, and the future of KERS. But my favourite piece in his column, is just a couple of small paragraphs.

As an aside, I notice that the rear wing fell off the Toyota at Silverstone and it was a right-rear suspension failure that caused Glock’s crash at Hockenheim.

I didn’t hear of any investigation into the structural integrity of the Toyota – but presumably that will happen because when we had a suspension breakage in Malaysia we came under the spotlight of the FIA in a way that was publicly uncomfortable for the team.

Now, my first reaction to this was: "That's because the Toyota didn't smash into a billion tiny pieces!" Thinking about it, however, Coulthard does have a point. If there is a structural problem with the Toyota that has caused these last two failures, then it probably should be looked at.

Coulthard in Australia having some issues

So, why isn't it? I can only conclude two possible reasons. Either the problems aren't as Coulthard suspects, and they aren't related to any vital components within the car. Or, it's because the crashes were not as visible as the Red Bull failures. Of course, we all saw Glock crash and leave the car wincing, and there was plenty of debris on the track, but the car generally looked to be sound. When we watched Coulthard bounce across the kerb in Malaysia, there was carbon fibre flying off all over the shop. Given the information I have, I would investigate the Red Bull over the Toyota any day.

But, perhaps I am wrong. Are we seeing yet more inconsistency from the FIA again, or is this just Coulthard filling his column inches?