The ‘bib’ of Red Bull caused a lot of commotion, but ultimately turned out to be a storm in a teacup.
The fuss about Red Bull’s bib, in my view, was a typical case of a storm in a teacup. It’s the age-old game in Formula 1, where you want to spoil your competitor’s weekend. This ping-pong effect can be predicted every season. Team X accuses team Y of something, then team Y comes back with something to disrupt team X, and then the ball is bounced back again. We saw this this year with Red Bull’s asymmetrical brakes, then the fuss about the rear wing at McLaren, and now Zak Brown is claiming that Red Bull’s bib is illegal.
Let me first explain what such a bib is. At the bottom of the cockpit, a part of the floor protrudes forward, the so-called tea tray, also known as the bib. Loosely translated: the tray or bib. Why does this part stick out? Because the FIA has determined that the wooden plank must extend to there. This wooden plank is under every F1 car and must not wear too much during a race, otherwise disqualification follows. In this way, the FIA wants to prevent the cars from being set too low.
Hollowed Out
But for aerodynamics, it’s not at all convenient if the chassis extends to the end of that plank. That’s why the teams have, as it were, hollowed out that part under the cockpit, so that the wind flows better along it. Hence this piece of the floor, the bib, sticks out there. The end of this bib is attached to the bottom of the cockpit with a kind of spring. This provides flexibility and prevents the bib, if it were rigid, from breaking off when you drive over a kerbstone or the plank shatters.
The FIA has stipulated how much this bib may move and this is also tested by them. As a team, you want the bib as close to the ground as possible, which makes a significant difference in speed, but of course you also want to prevent the plank from wearing too much.
Now comes the interesting part. During qualification, you drive with 10 kg of fuel and in the race with 100 kg of fuel. Ideally, you want to set the bib lower in qualification than in the race, but that’s not allowed. Between these sessions, the cars are in parc fermé and many parts of the car are sealed by the FIA, including the part of the bib and where you can adjust it. In short, you must have already adjusted the bib for the race during qualification, and that is too high for the liking. With the current cars, 1 to 2 millimeters higher or lower at such a bib already makes a few tenths difference on your lap time.
Not Sealed in Parc Fermé
What sets Red Bull apart from the competing teams? They can adjust the bib’s setting from the cockpit, and this part is not sealed in parc fermé. This could potentially allow the Austrian team to lower the bib’s setting during qualification and then raise it for the race. This is where the controversy has arisen.
There’s a possibility that Red Bull has done something with this, but it’s unverifiable. Therefore, the FIA has now placed a seal in the Red Bull cockpit where the bib can be adjusted.
One could blow this story out of proportion and claim that they definitely did it, but no one knows for sure. However, if Red Bull did this, they wouldn’t be operating in a grey area, but breaking the rules. That’s simply one hundred percent illegal. If caught, they might even be thrown out of the championship. I don’t think a team like Red Bull, which is fighting for titles, would do this. It would be incredibly foolish.
Zak Brown Upset
Moreover, several parts of the car are described in the Formula 1 teams’ open source documents. Red Bull’s system has been on the car for three years and was readily accessible to the other teams and the FIA. Therefore, it seems highly unlikely to me that they violated the rules with this. I find it much more probable that Zak Brown was upset that they had to adjust the wing because of Red Bull and that he was looking for something to taunt them with.
In my view, this is a tempest in a teapot, but it does have an effect. In Austin, this was all anyone talked about. Christian Horner, Helmut Marko, and Max Verstappen all had to comment on it in the media. This creates noise, distraction, and irritation. It’s all part of the game surrounding a championship, and it’s been this way for years.
