Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has called the situation surrounding the controversial Red Bull ride height adjustment device “outrageous” – and questioned why it was needed on the car.
The FIA’s Nikolas Tombazis has made it clear that the matter is closed and that no sanctions will be taken against Red Bull.
In Austin TV cameras caught a Red Bull mechanic demonstrating to the FIA that a large and very obvious tool was required to change the settings on the device, and Wolff suggested that it was used for theatrical effect.
“My view is from the distance of what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard. It’s outrageous,” he said. “I really like that when they put this real ‘broom’ in the car to demonstrate how that is only way of that getting changed. I wonder how long it took them to make this, and to stick it in there?
“And I didn’t know that in F1 we were using such devices. It’s not good enough to say ‘You know, that’s it. Promise I’m not going to do it again.’
“Why would you design such a thing, and put two marks on it for two positions? Is that the precise decision making in F1?”
Asked to expand on his “outrageous” comment he questioned how long it took for the device to be spotted.
“I think we’re all designing parts that are F1 standard, that are to the highest specifications,” he said. “We’re designing parts that are within the regulations. Sometimes on things like aero elasticity, you would probably try to go as far as you can.
“But there are certain parts which you would question why they exist. They [the FIA] haven’t just seen it for a long time when they should have.”
Regarding the FIA’s position he said: “I cannot speak for the FIA at all. I cannot speak for Nikolas. Obviously that’s something that’s been not spotted for a long time.”
