Mercedes boss Toto Wolff allies with Zak Brown against Red Bull's 'outrageous' front bib device

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claimed he found Red Bull's use of a front bib device "outrageous" and allied with McLaren CEO Zak Brown in speaking against the issue. Ahead of the US Grand Prix weekend, the Austrian F1 team was found to be using a front bib device that could adjust the car's ride height in between sessions.

Although the FIA did not disclose any names initially, Red Bull later acknowledged having the device but revealed that they had not used it when the car was assembled. McLaren CEO Zak Brown had urged the sport's governing body to investigate the matter thoroughly.

Speaking with PlanetF1, the Mercedes team boss mentioned that he was not even aware of such a device and said:

“My view is from the distance of what I’ve seen and what I’ve heard, it’s outrageous. I really liked that when they put this real broom in the car to demonstrate how that’s the only way of that getting changed," Wolff said.

"I wonder how long it took them to make this and to stick it in there. And I didn’t know that in Formula 1, we were using such devices. It’s not good enough to say, you know that’s it, promise they’re not going to do it again," he added.

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Red Bull team boss opens up on the front bib device controversy in Austin

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner said he was not too fussed about the chatter surrounding them for using a front bib device.

Speaking with Sky Sports F1, the Brit revealed that they were in continuous discussions with the governing body since Singapore regarding the devices on the car, saying:

"To explain to the public, there are probably 600 items on the car that are fully adjustable. Everyone can adjust these elements. What you can't do is adjust them during parc ferme. That is what hasn't happened. It would be easier to adjust a floor stay, or a roll bar, or a push rod length, then strip out the pedals," Horner said.

"We have cameras watching the cars, we have scrutineers and witnesses watching the cars. Our car has come under more scrutiny in the last three years than any other car in the pit lane, so we are totally comfortable," he added.

FIA head of single-seaters, Nikolas Tombazis also called the suspicion surrounding the issue a "non-story" after completing the checks. Although they had notified Red Bull to remove the device going forward, the Austrian team were not able to do it during the weekend.

Aside from the off-track chatter, it was a positive weekend for the reigning world champions on the drag given Max Verstappen was able to extend his lead over Lando Norris by five points, taking the gap between the two drivers to 57 points with five races and two sprints remaining in the 2024 season.