Christian Horner, the team principal of Red Bull Racing, has responded aggresively to criticism from rival teams regarding a suspicious device in Red Bull's RB20, describing their concerns as "paranoia."
This follows an FIA intervention that sealed the device, designed to alter the car's front bib height after complaints surfaced from other teams prior to the United States Grand Prix in Austin. The situation unfolds as Max Verstappen leads the Driver's championship comfortably, albeit with McLaren currently at the top of the Constructor's Standings.
This story centers around a device located in the cockpit of Red Bull's cars, which is reportedly capable of modifying the car's ride height. Such a modification if done between the qualifying rounds and the race while the machinery is in parc ferme conditions, would contravene F1 regulations, potentially giving an illicit advantage by specializing the car for both qualifying and the race using separate setups.
Rival team McLaren, headed by CEO Zak Brown, has been vocal, with Brown stating the following:
"From what we can see, it is the only team that has the ability to adjust the ride height from inside the cockpit, and that raises questions."
Christian Horner dismissed these allegations, positioning the scrutiny as a diversion tactic by competitors.
"I think there's been a bit of moaning from one of our rivals," Horner told Sky Sports F1. "And it's the FIA's job to look into these things. It's on a list of the open-source components, so 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."
The FIA, the governing body of Formula 1 responsible for maintaining sporting regulations, acted by imposing a seal on the device to ensure compliance with ride height adjustments during parc ferme.
Brown, wants more to be done by the sporting body:
"There should be massive consequences if Red Bull had been found to have used the device against the rules."
"Being able to run the car lower is a competitive advantage.
"I am comfortable the FIA are on top of a potential issue."
Horner was quick to defend his team further:
"I feel that it's sometimes to distract from perhaps what's going on in your own house, then sometimes you try to light a fire somewhere else?" he said.
As the 2024 Formula 1 season end approaches with the US Grand Prix kicking off the final two triple headers of the year, Verstappen is fighting off McLaren's Lando Norris at the top of the leaderboard. Something like this, if true, could put the Milton Keynes squad in a difficult place, especially as they've already lost the lead in the Constructor's.
It's worth noting that Red Bull has consistently denied these allegations.
Historically, Red Bull has navigated multiple controversies, including disputes over technical innovations and operational regulations. In 2021, they faced scrutiny over their rear wing design which was expected to be flexing at high speeds. This led to stricter testing from the FIA around this device.
The team, under Horner's leadership, has secured six championship wins, and with this success, comes an immense amount of scrutiny. There will be more on this story over the weekend.
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