Red Bull’s run of dominance in the ground-effect era of F1 has given rise to a political rivalry between them and McLaren. At the forefront of this are their two bosses — Christian Horner and Zak Brown, respectively. Their latest falling out was about Red Bull’s alleged illegal “bib” trick exploit. Max Verstappen, however, isn’t bothered about the duo’s tussles.
“I don’t care It’s not that we call each other, but I have a fine relationship with Zak Brown. That he and Christian Horner don’t like each other is not my problem,” explained Verstappen when asked about Brown and Horner’s war of words by Erik van Haren.
After it was understood that Red Bull were using a fluid ride-height device on their floor, Brown called out for “consequences”. Horner was quick to fire back pointing out McLaren’s own troubles with the FIA after their mini-DRS rear wing had been called into question.
“Mij boeit het niets”, zegt Max Verstappen over de (politieke) strijd tussen McLaren en Red Bull.
️ “Het is niet dat we elkaar bellen, maar ik heb een prima relatie met Zak Brown. Dat hij en Christian Horner elkaar niet moeten, is niet mijn probleem.”https://t.co/VJZ2HzBJKM
— Erik van Haren (@ErikvHaren) October 20, 2024
The entire ‘bib trick’ fiasco started when a device was found on the bib or T-tray area of the RB20. Essentially, this allowed the Milton Keynes-based outfit to dynamically adjust their ride height for qualifying and the race.
However, the team revealed that though they could alter the ride height with the device, it was designed in such a way that it could not be accessed by either the engineers or the drivers once the car had been assembled and in parc ferme. While this explanation hasn’t convinced McLaren, the FIA have seemingly closed the matter from their end.
Red Bull’s ‘bib’ device has been cleared by the FIA
Earlier today, the FIA’s single-seater chief, Nikolas Tombazis revealed to the media that they had finally drawn a line in the sand with respect to the ride-height device Red Bull had been running on their car.
Racingnews365.com quoted Tombazis as saying, “There is the provision that the teams need to convince us that they are running legally all the time, and we felt that unless it got sealed, we would not be confident that [the ride height] wasn’t changing. That is where we asked for this to be sealed, it has now been done.”
“Can I say with complete certainty about whether there has ever been anything irregular? No. Can I say that the matter is closed? Yes absolutely,” he added. With this controversy now seemingly behind them, McLaren and Red Bull find themselves battling it out for the win at the 2024 US GP on Sunday.
Lando Norris starts from pole with Verstappen for company on the front row of the grid. After Saturday’s sprint race win, Verstappen sits 54 points ahead of Norris in the championship and could extend his lead further in the Grand Prix at Austin.
