FIA clampdown on bib adjuster over rivals’ “paranoia”

Red Bull boss Christian Horner says the FIA’s intervention over his team’s front bib adjuster is simply about placating “paranoia” from its rivals.

The Milton Keynes-based squad has been at the centre of attention this weekend after it emerged the FIA was ramping up protocols to stop teams adjusting their front bib clearance in parc ferme.

This came as a result of suspicions from Red Bull’s competitors that the outfit could have been adjusting its settings between qualifying and the race – which would be outside the regulations.

While the FIA has added seals to the bib adjuster on the Red Bull this weekend, and the squad is to make changes to its car before the end of the season, Horner says allegations of cheating by his team are unfounded.

Asked about why thought, if the team was innocent, the FIA had added the seals to his car, Horner told Sky Sports: “Because I think there’s been a bit of moaning from one of our rivals, and it’s the FIA’s job to look into these things.

“It [the adjuster] is 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 it’s just to satisfy perhaps some paranoia elsewhere in the paddock.”

Christian Horner, Team Principal, Red Bull Racing

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Horner explained it was not an easy process for Red Bull to adjust the front bib setting – as it required the removal of both bodywork panels and the pedals, plus it needed the use of a two-foot long pole by a mechanic.

“Every car has a tool that they can adjust the front of the bib with,” added Horner. “Ours is located at the front, in front of the footwell, and it’s been there for, I think, over three years.

“But you’ve got to have the pedals out, and other panels and pipework out, in order to be able to get to it. So, it’s like any other adjustment on the car.”

He added: “If you think that there’s some kind of handbrake or lever that the drivers can activate with a low, medium or high setting, I’m really sorry to disappoint you. There isn’t.”

Horner suggested it would be nonsensical for Red Bull to utilise such a complicated system to adjust its car, when there were other areas that were much easier and swifter to change.

“It would be easier to adjust the rear roll bar than it is to get to that component,” he said. “It’s all part of the packaging and in the front end of the chassis.”

Horner felt that after the recent controversy surrounding McLaren’s ‘mini DRS’, that the attention being shifted on to his squad was deliberate.

“I feel that it’s sometimes to distract from perhaps what’s going on in your own house, that sometimes you try and light a fire somewhere else,” he said.