Sauber explains wing problems.

The Sauber team, forced to miss the Brazilian Grand Prix after problems with the rear wing on its C19, has issued the following statement regarding what was an unfortunate situation:

Team Red Bull Sauber Petronas has concluded its investigation into the rear wing failures which afflicted the Red Bull Sauber C19s of Mika Salo and Pedro Diniz during free practice and qualifying respectively for last weekends Brazilian Grand Prix, and which resulted in both cars being withdrawn from the race.

On Salos car the failure occurred in the lower plane of the rear wing; on Dinizs car in the upper plane.

The problem was far too complex to investigate properly in the field in Brazil, let alone to effect a safe and satisfactory cure, hence the withdrawal of the cars. Our investigation back at the factory in Hinwil, however, reveals that both failures arose because of unusual circumstances.

The track at Interlagos had been resurfaced, but was even bumpier than before on the main straight, on which cars exceed 170 mph. These very severe bumps resulted in both cars undergoing impact loads that were considerably in excess of the cycle predicted during the design of the cars, which itself incorporated a significant safety margin.

The construction of the wings, and the combination of materials used, is different to last years successful C18 design, but we are satisfied that the surface characteristics were directly responsible for the failures.

Team Red Bull Sauber Petronas has always placed the highest priority on safety, and in Brazil this meant not just the safety of Mika and Pedro, but that of their fellow drivers. We simply could not risk running the cars without knowing precisely why the wings failed.

We are confident now, however, that running the cars at Silverstone [on] Wednesday and Thursday does not present any risk and that such failures will not recur.