McLaren still wondering about the legality of the Red Bull
F1 is back to one of its favorite activities: discussing the legality of a particular single-seater. This weekend, it was the legality of the Red Bull that was in question. Zak Brown was therefore quick to repeat his questions to his main rival.
A struggle for the two championships that is intensifying can only generate destabilization attempts on one side or the other. So when the FIA gets involved and mentions a part that allows changing the ride height of a single-seater and that this happens to be Red Bull’s, it doesn’t take much to spark controversy.
Red Bull’s defense is that this device cannot be used when the single-seater is ready to roll and that it does not allow discreet violation of the Parc Fermé rule, which prohibits any modification of settings from qualifying to the race. Laurent Mekies, former FIA member and now with Racing Bulls, pointed out that this system has been in place for 15 years and that everything is in place to ensure its compliance, even though a screwdriver would be enough to change the rigidity of the suspensions or other settings.
However, Zak Brown did not dodge the numerous questions that were asked of him on the subject during the press conference organized by the FIA: “We have been told that there will now be a seal on it. But there are many times when the car is not ready for the race. So we still have questions about the subject and we need to understand it better.”
Himself accused of presenting a rear wing that deformed at high speed, he defended himself by pointing out that the said wing had successfully passed all FIA tests, which nevertheless did not prevent him from having to modify it. « We trust the FIA to manage this situation. » His main question mark is on the historical use of this part as it could have brought a significant performance gain through a system accessible directly from inside the cockpit. He still exonerates the drivers themselves: « They should have very long arms! » but rather the mechanics who have access to the single-seater at different stages of the weekend.
Without a doubt, the decision of the FIA is highly anticipated on the matter. In the history of Formula 1, teams have been excluded from a championship due to proven illegality.
From our special correspondent in Austin
