McLaren CEO Zak Brown wants the FIA to launch a “very thorough investigation” into its championship rival Red Bull for a potential use of front bib adjuster under parc ferme conditions.
The Red Bull team is currently being accused of using its front bib adjuster between qualifying and grand prix. According to reports, there is a device under the heel support, which can lift or lower the height of the front bib. A mechanic can adjust this with a tool. This is not illegal, but rival teams are unhappy at the fact that an adjustment of the front bib could have been done during parc ferme.
Red Bull already denied these allegations but agreed to introduce car changes ahead of the United States Grand Prix, following discussions with the FIA. F1’s governing body itself said that it is satisfied that there is no evidence of a potential regulations breach.
Now, McLaren’s Zak Brown had his take on this matter and asked the FIA to dig deeper to be sure that Red Bull did not break parc ferme rules.
“I’m very happy to see the FIA is on it,” Brown told Sky ahead of first practice. “I think it needs to be a very thorough investigation. Because if you touch your car from a performance standpoint in parc ferme, that is a black and white material, substantial breach – which should come with massive consequences.
“Touching your car after parc ferme is highly illegal within the rules. So I think the FIA needs to get to the bottom of: were they, weren’t they?”
In Brown’s opinion, it’s suspicious enough that Red Bull was the only team to fit such device. He doubts Red Bull’s claim that the adjustment of the front bib adjuster could nor be made when the car is fully assembled.
“When you see cleverly worded comments like you can’t do it when it’s fully assembled…I know the car isn’t always fully assembled,” added Brown. “And then the FIA feels they need to put a seal on it. Why would the FIA need to put a seal on something if it wasn’t accessible?
“Transparency is critically important in today’s day and age. So I still have questions. I know from talking to other team bosses, they still have questions. So until those questions are answered, I think it is still an ongoing investigation to bottom out, you know: what do we know?
“I’d like some more answers before I’m prepared to kind of go: ‘Right, I guess they were or they weren’t.’ But I think the FIA will bottom it out.”
When asked if he felt that Red Bull breached the regulations, Brown answered: “Why would you design it to be inside the car, when the nine other teams haven’t?
“It’d be unfair of me to say, of course. I have an opinion on whether I think they have or haven’t, but I think the FIA needs to be very diligent in their bottoming out whether they think they [Red Bull] have or haven’t.”
After F1 practice finished at the Circuit of the Americas, FIA delegates were seen in the garage from Red Bull. A mechanic showed them how the device in the cockpit changed and worked. Having seen and understood, the delegates placed seals on the accessible slot before taking some photos.
