Coming into the weekend, it emerged in the media that an unidentified team had a device in their cockpit that would allow them to alter the height of their ‘T-tray’ or ‘front bib’ – a part that sits at the front of the plank and floor that the plank is mounted to – under parc ferme conditions.
Changes to the front bib between sessions could provide a competitive advantage given the sensitivity of the current generation of Formula 1 cars to ride height and floor clearance. Adjustments to this to offset differences in fuel load between qualifying and the race could allow a team to extract additional downforce, mitigate certain setup changes to suspension of tyre pressure, and ultimately increase performance.
With such alterations under parc ferme conditions being illegal according to Articles 40.2 and 40.9 of F1’s sporting regulations, the FIA issued a statement saying they would implement “procedural adjustments to ensure that front bib clearance cannot be easily modified.”
Red Bull Racing later revealed that they were the team in question, with it suspected that the device was found through the requirement for teams to make their designs open-source and publish details on FIA servers. It’s reported that discussions were had between concerned teams and the FIA over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, with Red Bull later conferring with the FIA to reach a plan going forward.
Importantly there is no evidence to suggest that Red Bull had actually used the device to make adjustments during parc ferme saying it was not accessible when the car is fully assembled, and following a tour of the car and the device for the FIA from a senior Red Bull mechanic on Friday, the FIA considers the matter closed.
Nikolas Tombazis, the single-seater director for the FIA, is satisfied that the measures the governing body has put in place will ensure no team could gain an advantage through this system in the future.
Speaking to Sky, Tombazis said “I think it’s certainly not a story from now on, I think we’ve done all that’s needed to stop there being any accusations.”
“Of course, it is a tight championship and people get rather excited about each other’s cars and so we can’t 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’s a non-story.”
Tombazis emphasised that there would also be no way of checking whether the device had been used in previous sessions, saying, “We are talking really something like a couple of millimetres or something like that, potentially… I don’t think it’s something that we could go and check.”
The FIA have several processes in place to ensure that teams follow the regulations in terms of work that can be done under parc ferme conditions, including cameras on the cars and the presence of scrutineers.
Red Bull’s team principal Christian Horner spoke to this, saying “Our car has come under more scrutiny in the last three years than any other car in the pit lane. So we’re totally comfortable.”
But this hasn’t stopped queries over the matter from Red Bull’s closest championship competitors in McLaren, with McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown expecting the FIA to do a “thorough investigation” due to the black and white nature of the parc ferme regulations. Ferrari’s team principal Fred Vasseur was more reluctant to comment saying, “I don’t know what’s happened, I’m not into the team for sure and I don’t know if they used it or not. He went on to emphasise that “we have to trust the FIA and let’s see.”
