Christian Horner believes the ‘Bibgate’ controversy in Austin has come about to satisfy the paranoia of a rival team. Ahead of the United States Grand Prix, the topic of Red Bull’s bib height adjustment mechanism has dominated headlines, with team boss Christian Horner saying he believes a rival team is attempting to distract from what’s going on in its own camp. Over the Singapore Grand Prix weekend, the theoretical possibility of Red Bull being able to make ride height adjustments via an in-cockpit mechanism came to light as the FIA was made aware of a device through its own open-source documentation which every team must submit to the governing body.
Red Bull readily admitted the existence of the device, as well as confirming the location of the mechanism in the driver footwell, but demonstrations made to the FIA on Friday in the pitlane showed it is an area of the car not easily accessed – the car requires comprehensive disassembly and specialised tools to adjust the mechanism. While all 10 F1 teams have a bib height adjustment system, only Red Bull’s is located within the cockpit – leading to the controversy due to the theoretical possibility of adjustment under parc fermé conditions, when such adjustments are expressly forbidden. The FIA scrutineers in Austin visited each team on Friday to get a good look at the bib height adjustment mechanisms, with Red Bull’s being fitted with an FIA seal to close off the possibility of it being adjusted.
The controv.