FIA chief labels Red Bull ‘bib’ saga a “non-story”: “That is under control”
The FIA's view on the ongoing saga involving Red Bull.
FIA chief Nikolas Tombazis has labelled Red Bull’s controversial adjustable ride height device as a “non-story” with the “present situation” now “under control”.
The talk of the paddock in Austin has been around a device on the Red Bull car.
A number of rival teams raised concerns that Red Bull are able to adjust the ride height of their car at the front under parc ferme conditions, which would contravene F1’s rules, while giving a performance advantage.
Red Bull boss Christian Horner has insisted Red Bull are in the clear, stating the FIA are “happy with it”.
Tombazis, who is head of single-seaters for the FIA, offered insight into the situation on Friday.
He told Sky Sports: “At the previous race, it was pointed out to us that certain designs could allow a change of the height at the front of the car, which some people call a bib, in parc ferme.
"We did not have any indication or any proof that anybody was doing something like that - that would clearly be illegal under parc ferme regulations. So we said that from this race onwards, there must be no possibility of doing such a thing at all. So if a team had a design that would allow a quick change of that height, it would have to be sealed so they could not have access in parc ferme.
“All teams have adhered to that and, as far as we are concerned, that is under control.
“It is certainly not a story from now on. I think we have done all that is needed to stop there being any accusations."
Tombazis declared the current situation as a “non-story” and that given it’s a tight championship battle, accusations like this aren’t surprising.
"It is a tight championship and people get excited about each others' cars,” he added.
“So we cannot definitively close the previous races or any insinuations there may be between teams in a very competitive environment, but in the present situation we believe it is a non-story, yes."
