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Singapore tram deny Red Bull's charge

Thursday 9th October 2008

Singapore's transit operator has dismissed claims that a charge from a nearby tram put Mark Webber out of F1's inaugural night race.

Webber retired from the grand prix when his gearbox failed on lap 30 with Red Bull team boss Christian Horner later claiming that it was a sudden electrical surge that was responsible for the problem.

"At Turn 13 the gearbox selected two gears at one," Horner said. "The moog valve controlling the gearshift had been triggered into changing to seventh while he was still in fifth.

"Yet after interrogating the software we can see that it at no time was allowing for this. We can see a momentary electrical surge at the precise moment, which seems to have triggered the moog valve.

"A tram line runs beneath the track at that corner and it seems as if static from a passing tram at the very moment Mark was in the corner passed through the ground."

However, Singapore's Mass Rapid Transit system operator has denied Red Bull's claims.

"There is no MRT track beneath Turn 13," a spokesman told Reuters. "The nearest MRT tunnel is about 200 metres away, with a depth of about 10 metres.

"In addition, train wheels and running rails are made of metal and therefore do not generate static electricity charges during train operations."

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