Red Bull trying to fix persistent problem with their car

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner is hopeful that the rear wing problems suffered by the outfit in recent races won't cause any major problems during the title run-in.

At last weekend's Qatar Grand Prix, Red Bull again encountered the rear wing flapping - or oscillating - that was prominent in the United States and Mexico, requiring mechanics to make reinforcements throughout practice.

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko revealed that a short-term fix came when Max Verstappen swapped back to a higher downforce wing for qualifying, with no further issues reported during qualifying or the race.

Asked about the wing change and how much that compromised performance, Horner told media, including RacingNews365.com: "That was our preferred wing and it was the setup direction that we wanted to go in.

"If those other [lower downforce] wings are required in either [Saudi Arabia] or Abu Dhabi, obviously we'll need to have fixes in place to strengthen them up - the DRS mechanism."

Red Bull trying to manage the situation

Despite the number of issues seen at recent races, Horner is confident that the situation can be managed effectively.

Pushed on whether the actuator could have been easily fixed if the part wasn't homologated, Horner replied: "I think from a reliability point of view it should be relatively - hopefully - straightforward to sort out those actuators.

"We've been using them for many years now, so it's not a new technology."

Verstappen leads Lewis Hamilton by eight points in the Drivers' Championship, while Red Bull trail Mercedes by five points in the Constructors' standings.