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F1: Formula 1 cars and equipment finally returned to Europe

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Khatir Soltani
From GMM

Red Bull Racing boss Christian Horner on Thursday said delays caused by the Icelandic volcano will not disturb preparations for next month's Spanish grand prix.

With the sport's freight -- and all the cars -- stranded in China while FOM's 747s were grounded in Europe, it was feared that teams' car developments would not be ready for the next race in Barcelona.

Red Bull boss Horner said before departing Shanghai with his traveling companion Mark Webber that an F-duct should be on the RB6 in Spain "providing we make it back to Europe" soon.

McLaren's Martin Whitmarsh was also worried about the delay, explaining that if it (the delay) is a week or so (...) it will become an issue".

We reported earlier on Thursday that the FOM freight has landed in Bilbao, and Horner confirmed that the team's trucks are due to arrive in Milton-Keynes "today", Thursday.

"Thankfully, the way the calendar is with the extra week between the Chinese and Spanish grands prix, it (the delay) has a very limited impact," said the Briton.

Horner also said the bulk of the race team is also due back in the UK on Thursday afternoon.

Lotus Racing was proud to announce that it was among the first F1 teams to make it safely back to their UK base after landing late last night at London Stansted. Team Principal Tony Fernandes’ Air Asia came to the team’s rescue and flying them all back from Kuala Lumpur at lunchtime on Wednesday.

However, it emerged on Thursday most of the Force India and Hispania Racing teams are still stranded in Shanghai.

A Force India spokeswoman said in Shanghai that while the drivers are back in Europe, "the majority of the team" is still in China.

Indian rookie Karun Chandhok also revealed that most of the HRT team is still in China.



Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada