Red Bull breach potentially “massive” and would deserve “consequences”

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown has called on the FIA to establish whether Red Bull used its bib adjustment device while their car was under parc ferme conditions.

Any use of the device in those circumstances would amount to a “massive breach” of the rules, said Brown.

Red Bull demonstrated the function of its device, which is located in the footwell of its car, to FIA technical staff at the Circuit of the Americas today. While all teams have the capability to make such an adjustment, the FIA has taken interest in Red Bull’s because it can be accessed from within the car.

The position of the device makes it impossible for a driver to access it while seated in the car. “They’d have to have very long arms,” Brown joked.

However McLaren said the FIA must establish whether Red Bull used the device to adjust the bib while the car was in parc ferme. “Our questions are a bit more around what has maybe historically happened and understanding if it’s been used in an inappropriate manner,” said Brown.

Such a violation would be comparable to significant transgressions which occurred in other sports, said Brown.

“If you breach the parc ferme rules, that’s a massive breach,” he said. “So there should be consequences if that has happened, and that would be ultimately up to the FIA.

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“We’ve seen it in sport before. We’ve seen in our sport, we’ve seen it in baseball, we’ve seen it in football. These things do happen.

“So we just put our trust in the FIA to address the issue moving forward. We’re just asking questions, but it’s up to the FIA as our regulator, who do a great job, to get on top of it and come up with a solution that is transparent and is satisfactory to all the teams. I think I’m not alone in our concerns for what we have seen and heard.”

F1 cars are monitored by cameras while under parc ferme conditions. Brown expects the FIA to ascertain whether the device was used when it should not have been.

“We’ve got a lot of confidence in the FIA and like all of us, we’re learning all the time,” he said. “So they’ve discovered something that they aren’t happy with and are addressing it now.

“I’m sure they’ll do a thorough look back and see if there’s anything that they don’t like that they saw.”

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