This weekend’s Formula One drama surrounds Red Bull Racing and the potential for them doing something outside the rules as laid down by the FIA. Prior to the USGP F1’s governing body had issued a clarification over a certain component which all the teams have on their cars.

Of course this ignited the fires of indigence under Zak Brown who has taken the reigns from Toto Wolff as Red Bull Racing’s biggest critic. Brown believes the FIA should launch an investigation to see if Red Bull has used this ride height adjuster during parc ferme which is illegal.

Yet the context of this particular mini spat appears to clearly reveal Red Bull have not in fact been ‘cheating’ given the information provided by the FIA.

 

 

 

Open Source Components

The component in question is one which the FIA requires all teams to submit their working documents from concept through to production via an ‘open source system’ through which all competitors can see the workings of their rivals.

“The amount of discussion about this topic is about a factor of 100 more than it deserves,” said the FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis. “For us, the main part was to make sure that, with immediate effect there’s no insinuation of any change.”

Tombazis continues explaining the solution used by the majority of the other teams does not have a similar ease of adjustment and therefore does not require the solution of ‘a seal’ from the FIA.

The ‘bib adjuster’, as it has become known has been used by Red Bull for at least two seasons and all the required documentation has been appropriately filed by the world champions and available for all the F1 design teams to view.

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Red Bull device declared legal

Yet only during the recent autumn break was the Red Bull part questioned by a competitor, resulting in the FIA making the necessary statements this weekend. Reading the F1 paddock tea leaves it was almost certainly McLaren who raised the matter behind the scenes, particularly given the vociferous nature of Zak Brown’s appeals to the FIA.

The legality of the design of the component is not in question given the open source nature of its categorisation, yet Zak Brown is calling into question the reason for Red Bull using a different solution to others and then extrapolating the explanation is due to nefarious intentions.

Despite Tombazis dismissive response stating the topic has received “100 times” more airtime than it deserves, Brown is yet pressing the FIA to investigate Red Bull’s use of the device insisting Red Bull must cleared of any potential impropriety.

The FIA’s single seater official makes another attempt to put the matter to bed. “Certain components of the car are what we call OSC components, which are components that the teams need to upload on a portal which is available with the FIA and all the other teams,” Tombazis told assembled media in Austin. “That is for some components which we consider not areas of competition, but we don’t want to standardise and prescribe.

RB boss: Ricciardo chose to go quietly

 

 

 

FIA says ‘no evidence of cheating’

“They [the teams] can see and check each other so it was pointed out to us. This design has been around at least for a couple of years or something like that, but it was pointed out to us that this could allow a change under parc ferme, which would be illegal. 

“So on that basis, because there’s also provision that teams need to convince us that they are running legally all the time, we felt that unless it gets sealed or changed then we would not be confident it’s not changing. So that’s why we asked for this to be sealed and that has been done.”

Tombazis goes on to explain the FIA do not have the ability to check every moment of the parc ferme activity from the past two years simply because they do not have any evidence of such behaviour. 

“Generally, when we decide to escalate the matter and to go to the stewards, or a tribunal or whatever, we want to have some reasonable indication [of a breach], so not based on hearsay or just speculation.

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Brown wants ‘opportunity to cheat’ investigating

“So as the design is not illegal, we believe that the correct action is to say that ‘OK certain things need to happen in order to guarantee there’s no ongoing concern’ But we also have to draw a line in time and say on certain things we can’t go into much more detail than we have.”

Of course the cars in parc ferme are monitored by both Marshalls and CCTV and given accessing the Red Bull ride height adjuster is not the work of a moment, like a front wing adjustment, any covert activity would surely have been captured on film.

Even so Brown continues to insist the FIA must investigate Red Bull’s previous behaviour whilst accepting going forward the FIA solution of a ‘seal’ is fine.

“Speaking with some of the other team bosses, I think we’re all confident, moving forward, it’s a good solution,” said Brown. “But I do think we need to look back and make sure we’ve got confidence, as Nikolas said, they don’t necessarily have the tools in parc ferme, so anytime you have an incident like that, we all just want to have confidence that it’s all been done appropriately.

“The lookback still needs to be done.”

Red Bull respond to Ricciardo debacle

 

 

 

FIA say “No” to Brown’s demands

However, Tombazis is adamant Brown’s “lookback” is both unnecessary and unrealistic. “People are allowed to check things on the car and it’s a matter of how easy [it is to do]. If you have to dismount a whole bodywork and do 50 things then obviously it would be visible on the camera, but something as simple and as quick as that I don’t think you can realistically check that on camera and images.”

Brown appears to have lost the plot asking the FIA to investigate something they say they have no evidence for and further the  matter was raised by one of the F1 competitors against a rival.

A breach can be policed but asking the FIA to investigate the possibility of an opportunity to breach the regulations, appears to be clutching at straws. Tombazis cannot rule out the possibility that F1 teams cheat and the FIA fails to detect it, but he appears irritated by the amount of noise the topic has received.

“Honestly, can I say with complete certainty about whether there’s ever been anything irregular? No,” said Tombazis. “Can I say that the matter is closed? Yes, absolutely.”

Whether this will be enough for Zak Brown and his fellow conspiracy theorists is uncertain, but what is for sure is come Mexico City next week and the next paddock saga will be playing itself out.

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Red Bull Racing joining Formula One was to change the face of the sport forever. Teams had been coming and going for decades with Williams being the previous outfit to establish an F1 team capable of winning races and championships regularly. Founder Didi Mateschitz bought the failed Ford-Jaguar F1 programme and poured almost limitless investment into the squad from Milton Keynes establishing the team as one of F1’s ‘big boys’ and this even before the cost cap was conceived.

Over the years Red Bull has been controversial, upending the old order within the sport, sacking drivers mid-season more frequently than the rest of the field combined and now attempting something never seen before in th history of Formula One.

Red Bull are the first privateer F1 outfit to build their own F1 engine and in an era when the power units in the sport are more complex then ever win history. Even global car manufacturer Renault have recently admitted defeat by cancelling their F1 power plant programme blaming it on the FIA’s obsession with the uber complex and costly hybrid programme yet Red Bull are ploughing on with some input from US car giant, Ford… READ MORE