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AUSTIN, Texas — Christian Horner says Red Bull is “totally comfortable” amid the scrutiny of its Formula One car legality after the FIA said it is now a “non-story.”
Red Bull has been in the spotlight ahead of this weekend’s United States Grand Prix after discussions with the FIA over a device it uses to adjust the ride height of the car at the front bib on the floor.
Red Bull’s championship rival, McLaren, raised concerns that the device may have allowed Red Bull to adjust the ride height of the car between qualifying and the race under parc fermé conditions, which could offer a performance advantage but be in breach of the regulations.
McLaren CEO Zak Brown called for a “very thorough investigation” into the matter on Friday, saying there would need to be “massive consequences” if Red Bull was deemed to have breached the rules.
Speaking about the matter for the first time on Sky Sports ahead of sprint qualifying in Austin, Red Bull F1 chief Horner explained that the tool had been on the car for over three years within the packaging at the front of the chassis, meaning it was not easily accessible.
He said the FIA’s move to add a seal to the part was due to “a bit of moaning from one of our rivals,” and that it was “the FIA’s job to look into these things.”
Horner added: “It’s been publicly available for the last three years. The FIA are happy with it. I think just to satisfy perhaps some paranoia elsewhere in the paddock.”
Asked if the matter was a non-story, Horner said he thought that “sometimes to distract perhaps from what’s going on in your own house, sometimes you try and light a fire somewhere else.” He then noted there was “an awful lot of noise about rear wings” after McLaren had to make changes to its design after Baku.
Horner said there was no issue with the FIA’s decision to seal the front bibs, saying the team “can seal every movable joint on the car because parc fermé dictates you can’t change anything, and that’s what parc fermé is there for.
“We’ve complied with all the regulations and procedures. (We’re) more than happy with the discussions with the FIA. And what’s been shown to them, they’re very comfortable with.”
Also speaking on Sky Sports, FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said they had been alerted to Red Bull’s design at the last race in Singapore, but there was no indication or proof that a team had been doing something illegal in parc fermé.
“We’ve done all that’s needed to stop there being any accusations,” Tombazis said. “Then, of course, it is a tight championship, and people get rather excited about each other’s cars.
“So we can’t definitively close the previous races or any insinuations between teams in a very competitive environment.
“But in the present situation, we believe it’s a non-story, yes.”
Brown said in a news conference earlier on Friday that he still had questions about the device’s past use, but Tombazis said it would not be possible to go back and check CCTV footage from previous races.
“We’re talking really something like a couple of millimeters or something like that potentially,” Tombazis said. “We’re really talking very, very small numbers. I don’t think it’s something that we could go and check.
“But as I say, we don’t have any indication or proof or anything like that about something untoward having happened before.”
Top photo: ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images
