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[spankyham]

A big accusation has been leveled at Red Bull yet again.

The article is below. It is in German so, the non-German speaking amongst us will have to run it through a translator. But, here is the gist of it as I understand it.

I'll start by quoting the relevant section of the Sporting Regs (Link to full regs available here):-

34.5 If a competitor modifies any part on the car or makes changes to the set‐up of the suspension
whilst the car is being held under parc fermé conditions the relevant driver must start the race
from the pit lane and follow the procedures laid out in Article 38.2.

In order that the scrutineers may be completely satisfied that no alterations have been made
to the suspension systems or aerodynamic configuration of the car (with the exception of the
front wing) whilst in post‐qualifying parc fermé, it must be clear from physical inspection that
changes cannot be made without the use of tools.


This means that anything on the car that adjusts the ride height must require a tool to adjust it. The stewards in Canada found that the ride height of the RB8 in Canada could easily be adjusted by hand - no tool needed.

Who here remembers back in 2010 the rumors and questions raised about the Red Bull looking so low to the ground on lowest fuel loads possible during qualifying yet, when they fuelled the car up for the race they retained the same ride height. People were speculating they had some sort of ride height adjustment mechanism. I think Mark Webber even made a joke about the speculation. Reading this, that doesn't seem quite so funny now.

Anyway, leaving aside the obvious question of how many events did they use this mechanism, the fact is that it is/was totally illegal to have it there in the first place. It also leaves me wondering just how long has Red Bull had this on their car(s).

Anyway, the original article is referenced below.

 wrote:">Red Bull kommt drei Mal davon

[LiamCatterson]

If this were McLaren, they'd be banned by now

[stonemonkey]

Perhaps Horner doesn't let anyone else touch the adjuster thereby staying to the letter of the rule.

[What's Burning?]

Jenson Button two time world champion?

[elfinitty]

Jenson Button two time world champion?

McLaren can't surely be that lucky!

What I can't understand is that something against the law happened or not in 2010,as it tells in the articke, but in 2 years it hasn't been cleared even a bit yet..

[stonemonkey]

Nothing like that would happen. Might be nothing to it with someone playing games, if not then the other teams aren't going to be too happy.

[stonemonkey]

They just mentioned this story on sky, only as it being a rumour from a german website that's doing the rounds. They're gonna be asking Horner about it before quali.

[schumifan]

The greatest tools we have in life are our hands.

[stonemonkey]

Horner didn't seem to deny there was such a thing on the car but only said there'd never been any changes to ride height made in parc ferme.

During quali the camera just zoomed in on the redbull, there was what looked like an FIA sticker covering something on the side of the nose.

http://i.imgur.com/Pyafmh.jpg

[What's Burning?]

So here's the thing... It seems as if every time a question comes up about the legality of "something" with the Red Bull cars, nothing is ever found yet come qualifying time, their cars all of the sudden struggle. Webber not making it into Q3, Vettel at the absolute edge of the car just to get P3 and having to use the options from Q1!

When scientists look for evidence of a planet in another solar system, they don't actually look for the planet simply because that's very difficult to see what they look for is the effect that planet would have on the star it's orbiting. In similar fashion what we have with Red Bull is no evidence of an illegal component or setting, just the effect of losing that component or setting.

Everyone can make up their own mind, but circumstantial evidence is admissible in a court of law for a reason.

[stonemonkey]

I was just looking at other pics to see the hole uncovered and couldn't see it, then looking at this from april there's an indentation in the surface right where the sticker has now been placed. Yeah right Horner, it was never used!

[darwin dali]

These stickers are placed by the FIA on all removable panels on ALL cars - the camera just happened to catch the procedure in the Red Bull garage.

[stonemonkey]

These stickers are placed by the FIA on all removable panels on ALL cars - the camera just happened to catch the procedure in the Red Bull garage.

So it's just coincidence that there's a depression in that exact place on the older photo? Horner never denied there was such a thing on the car when asked about it.

[darwin dali]

These stickers are placed by the FIA on all removable panels on ALL cars - the camera just happened to catch the procedure in the Red Bull garage.

So it's just coincidence that there's a depression in that exact place on the older photo? Horner never denied there was such a thing on the car when asked about it.

I was just explaining the significance of the FIA stickers - nothing else.

[stonemonkey]

These stickers are placed by the FIA on all removable panels on ALL cars - the camera just happened to catch the procedure in the Red Bull garage.

So it's just coincidence that there's a depression in that exact place on the older photo? Horner never denied there was such a thing on the car when asked about it.

I was just explaining the significance of the FIA stickers - nothing else.

With the story that's appeared, and Horner has now admitted there is such a thing on the car but claims it was never used in parc ferme, and the location of the stickers coinciding with a previous depression I don't think that's the significance of these stickers.
The arrangement of the stickers also looks suspiciously like the setup used to monitor movement in buildings rather than just an FIA approval sort of thing.