Christian Horner has received some positive news at the United States Grand Prix after FIA head of single seaters Nikolas Tombazis declared the investigation into Red Bull as ‘closed’.
The reigning world champions found themselves in the centre of a paddock storm on Thursday after they confirmed that the FIA were probing into a bib device found within the cockpit of the RB20.
Red Bull’s component would allow them to adjust the ride height of their car in Parc Ferme conditions by disassembling the car, although they maintained that they had not used it illegally in between sessions.
The FIA looked into the matter, but according to Tombazis, the investigation is closed. “I mean, honestly, can I say with complete certainty about whether there’s ever been anything irregular? No,” he said on Saturday. “Can I say that the matter is closed? Yes, absolutely.”
This will not be a consolation to McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown. The American executive called on the sport’s governing body to conduct a “thorough investigation” to determine whether or not Red Bull had been using the device in between sessions.
“If it’s not accessible post or during Parc Ferme then why put a seal on it?” he told Sky Sports F1 on Thursday. “So I’m very happy to see [that] the FIA is on it – I think it needs to be a very thorough investigation.
“Because if you touch your car from a performance standpoint after Parc Ferme or in Parc Ferme, that is a black-and-white, material, substantial breach which should come with massive consequences. Touching your car after Parc Ferme is highly illegal within the rules, so I think the FIA needs to get to the bottom of were they [or] weren’t they?
“Why would you design it to be inside the car when the nine other teams haven’t? So maybe unfair of me to say… of course, I have an opinion on whether I think they have or haven’t [used the component]. But you know, I think the FIA needs to be very diligent in their bottoming out whether they think they have or they haven’t.”
This development was a second blow in a matter of hours for Brown after Lando Norris stumbled to a P3 finish in the sprint race in Austin. That result cost the 24-year-old two points in his fight against Max Verstappen.
