Monumental mess: Red Bull is the team that may have cheated Formula 1!

Before the GP of the United Statesalarm bells have rung in F1 over leaks of FIA suspicions that a team, whose name has not been disclosed, may be seriously breaching regulations to gain a competitive advantage. The highest regulatory body believes that a team is changing the height of its car in the parc fermé, something that is completely prohibited, to vary the distance from the bottom to the track between qualifying and the race. For this reason, the FIA ​​announced a change in the controls carried out on the cars starting this weekend in Austin.

Whenever there are suspicions like this, top cars are looked at. Basically, Red Bull is looked at for its dominance in recent years. Although you can also think of McLaren because it is now the fastest car. But we didn’t have to wait long to find out. According to ‘BBC’the team that may have cheated is Red Bull. That is, the group that currently leads the general classification of Drivers’ World Cup with Max Verstappenwhich fights for the Constructors’ World Championship and dominates at will and unopposed in 2022 and 2023.

However, the presence of such a device does not mean that it has been used. And it is not known how long this element is in the car. Max and ‘Checo’ Pérez. The defense of Red Bull.

What does this mean?

If it can be proven that they used that device, the offense will be huge, as will the penalty. And the advantage they can get from such a trap can be enormous. The possibility of adjusting the car’s floor height will allow teams to find a better balance for qualifying and for the race, with different heights to maximize both results, because any driver prefers a car closer to the ground in qualifying and higher in the race, something key not to damage the central wood more than the millimeters allowed to avoid disqualification.

Red Bull confirms the presence of the device, but defends itself

Red Bull has confirmed it has introduced changes to its car as a result of talks with the FIA ​​after energy drink rivals alerted the FIA ​​to the presence of a possible device that could alter the car’s height. floor of the front car, and it could be an advantage if they use it between qualifying and the race. It’s not about the front spoiler, but from the keel of F1that is, the lower part of the car’s nose, where the front suspensions of the car’s wheels join the body: the front part of the ground in the middle area of ​​the car.

For this reason, in the same ‘BBC’ news, a spokesman for the Red Bull team wants to defend his team, although at the same time, acknowledging the existence of that device. “Yes, the device exists, although it is not accessible when the car is fully assembled and ready to race”he assured. That is, it clarifies that despite the existence of this mechanism, it defends that they cannot change the height of the car between qualifying and the race, so they cannot gain any advantage illegally.

“During our extensive engagement with the FIA, this issue arose and we agreed on a plan to move forward.”added the spokesman for those from Milton Keynes.

It should be noted that F1 teams are absolutely prohibited from making adjustments and set-up changes to their cars from the start of qualifying and can only change the angle of the front wing.

The FIA’s previous statement

Before it became known that the team that might have committed an infringement was Red Bull, the FIA ​​issued the following statement:

“Any adjustment to the height of the front bib during parc fermé conditions is strictly prohibited by the regulations. Although we did not receive There is no indication that any team is using such a system, the FIA ​​remains vigilant in our ongoing efforts to improve sports tracking. As part of this, we have implemented adjustments to the procedure to ensure that bib clearance cannot be easily changed. In some cases, this may involve the application of a seal to provide additional assurance of compliance.”.

According to ‘BBC’, some of Red Bull’s rivals alerted the FIA ​​to the presence of this device at the last Singapore GP, before the rest break last month.