McLaren boss demands Red Bull senior personnel's signatures on affidavits as FIA issues verdict on the front bib device

McLaren boss Zak Brown has demanded Red Bull senior personnel's signature on affidavits as the FIA has issued its verdict on the situation. Ever since the F1 US GP race weekend began, the front bib device has been the talking point.

The Woking-based team has implored the FIA to do a detailed review of the solution that has been implemented by Red Bull. If the system enables the team to make changes to the ride height during Parc Ferme, then that is a straightforward disqualification from the race.

The problem appears to be the case that there is no mechanism that can help determine whether the car is using such a solution or not.

With that being said, the existence of such a solution has, however, triggered a discussion with some heated back and forth between Red Bull and McLaren bosses. At the same time, however, the FIA has issued its stance on the matter where a seal has been installed that would prevent any such alterations in the parc ferme going forward.

The governing body does, however, admit that it doesn't have a mechanism to go back and check if there was ever a race weekend where the ride height was altered.

With the FIA declaring its stand, Zak Brown has now demanded that the Red Bull senior personnel be asked to sign an affidavit claiming that they either had no knowledge of its use or that it was never used. He told the Daily Mail:

"I'd like to see the senior leadership, the former chief mechanics and the current mechanics sign an affidavit stating that they have never used or have no knowledge of it being used."

He added:

The suggestion in the pit lane from a handful of people is that it has been used in that manner, so the only way to bottom it out is the old-fashioned 'sign here', stating what has gone on. I know if I was presented with an affidavit and the consequences of not telling the truth were severe, I'd tell the truth."

McLaren boss wants consequences if Red Bull broke Parc Ferme rules

Stressing how the penalties are supposed to be a deterrent, the McLaren boss said that drivers and teams in the past have been disqualified from the championship for doing something that is not part of the regulation.

Talking about the part that the sanctity of the regulations is maintained, Brown said (via the aforementioned source):

"It [a penalty] needs to be a deterrent. We have seen drivers excluded from races and championships. And I am not saying Max should be excluded, by the way. We have seen teams excluded from races and championships."

He added:

"If, and I say if, parc fermé rules have been broken, the penalty needs to be of that magnitude, depending on whether they did it once or have been doing it regularly for three years. There must be consequences."

The war of words is more or less going to continue for some time between the two sides. There is, however, clarity in terms of how both McLaren and Red Bull have identified the other team as the direct rivals for the 2024 F1 season.