Red Bull poised for alternator switch prior to US GP

Red Bull will be forced to switch to Renault’s newer alternators prior to next month’s penultimate United States Grand Prix, after the reigning Constructors’ Champions reverted to the 2011 alternator spec following on from Sebastian Vettel’s double alternator failure at the Italian Grand Prix.

This is due to the fact that there is limited availability of the 2011-spec system which the Milton Keynes-based outfit have fallen back on, a fact which will therefore force the team to return to using the current Renault specification. Despite suffering alternator issues at the European and Italian Grands Prix, Renault have reassured Red Bull that the alternators have been revised so that the gremlins of the past do not return.

"The alternator has been changed and modified," confirmed Renault’s head of track operations, Remi Taffin, to AutoSport. "We had a new version we tested in Singapore, and another one in Suzuka. We ran that one again in Korea - and will do so here in India as well. As well as that, we were running it on the dyno and that will become the specification that we will introduce this year when we need it. But we also have other specifications that are coming from R&D that are focused on 2013."

With Red Bull and Sebastian Vettel currently locked in a grueling Championship battle with the likes of Ferrari and Fernando Alonso, a switch away from a reliable component to one that has previously stunted their progress could well be a worrying prospect for the outfit. After leading every single lap since Lewis Hamilton’s gearbox failure in Singapore, Red Bull will be praying such gremlins do not return as this highly entertaining season enters its final races.

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