“Don’t come together” – McLaren questions Red Bull’s number defense

McLaren does not believe Formula 1 title rival Red Bull's explanation for the front starting number in the cockpit of its RB20.

Red Bull admitted in Austin on Thursday that it is the team at the center of an FIA investigation into a device that has the potential to increase the height of the “number plate” on the front of the car floor between qualifying and the race, according to the Parc ferme regulations to change.

Red Bull insists it did not use the device to do this, saying the race number is “inaccessible once the car is fully assembled”, adding: “We have agreed a plan for the future with the FIA” , which also provides for changes to the RB20 .

Zak Brown, CEO of McLaren Racing, was unimpressed by Red Bull's statement and called for a thorough investigation by the FIA.

He says Red Bull likely had “no choice” but to declare the existence of the device as it is an open source component that would be visible to all other teams.

“There was no denying that they (Red Bull) have the ability to access the front number from inside the car (cockpit), that's undeniable,” Brown told Sky Sports F1. “I think they had no choice but to say, yes, we can…

“We know we can’t, we don’t have access, it’s not designed that way. And from what we see, that’s not the case for the other eight teams, so I think they had no choice.”

Brown was asked if he believed Red Bull was using the device: “Why would you design it to be in the car?” When the other nine teams have designed it to be outside the car.

“Ingenuity is part of Formula 1 and then there are black and white rules. You can't touch your race car, aside from things like driver comfort.

“They (Red Bull) chose their words very carefully and said: 'When the car is fully assembled'. But you can't let the car be completely assembled in parc ferme and if you're working on driver comfort.

“What doesn’t quite fit is a comment that you can’t change. Why then does the FIA ​​believe it has to put a seal if it is not accessible after posting or during parc ferme?

“I am very pleased that the FIA ​​​​is involved. It needs a very thorough investigation because from a performance perspective, touching your car after parc ferme or in parc ferme is a black and white, material, significant violation that should have serious consequences.

“Touching your car after parc ferme is highly illegal.”

Brown continued to insist that the FIA ​​get to the bottom of the question of whether or not Red Bull used the device under parc ferme.

“Why would you design it to fit in the car when the nine other teams haven’t? It's perhaps unfair of me to say…of course I have an opinion on whether I think they did it or not. But the FIA ​​​​needs to find out very carefully whether this is the case or not,” he added.

“Transparency is crucial these days. I still have questions, I know from conversations with other team bosses that they still have questions.

“Until those questions are answered, I think it's still an ongoing investigation to find out what do we know?

“I'd like a few more answers before I jump into the question: 'Right, I guess they did, they didn't use it'.”

“But I think the FIA ​​will find out.”

On Thursday, reigning world champion Max Verstappen dismissed the controversy: “For us it was just a simple tool when the parts were removed, it was easy to adjust.” But once the whole car is assembled you can't touch it anymore. “

Sky showed Red Bull demonstrating the device to the FIA ​​after the first training session.