Tombazis dismisses rivals’ calls for Red Bull investigation

The FIA has refused further investigation into Red Bull’s T-tray system, citing technical limitations and insufficient grounds for action.

Nikolas Tombazis, the FIA’s Single-Seater Director, has ruled out any further investigation by Formula 1’s governing body into Red Bull’s T-tray adjustment system.

Red Bull stirred controversy during the United States Grand Prix weekend with the revelation of a component that allows the front floor height of the RB20 to be adjusted from the cockpit.

Zak Brown and Frédéric Vasseur raised clear concerns over whether Red Bull might have used this system in the past, potentially altering settings in Parc Fermé, which is strictly prohibited.

The FIA has admitted it lacks the means to find evidence, and Tombazis believes it’s time to move on.

“Honestly, can I say with complete certainty that nothing irregular has ever happened? No. Can I say the matter is closed? Yes, absolutely.”

“In general, when we decide to escalate a matter to the stewards, the tribunal, or elsewhere, we want to have reasonable grounds—not just hearsay or mere speculation.”

“Since the design itself is not illegal, we believe the appropriate action is to ensure certain steps are taken to prevent any ongoing issues. But we must also draw a line in the sand and acknowledge that there are some matters we can’t delve into further.”

Brown expressed a desire for the FIA to examine the full history of the adjustment device and how it has been used. However, Tombazis ruled out this possibility, stating that such an investigation would be nearly impossible to conduct.

“It’s difficult to retroactively prove exactly what happened in the past, and we don’t believe we have the capacity to investigate two years of activity.”

“The mechanism’s adjustment is so complex, and its location in front of the floor, I doubt that analysis of the cameras in Red Bull’s garage could reveal any wrongdoing.”

“People are allowed to inspect the car anyway, and it’s a matter of practicality. If you have to dismantle the entire bodywork and perform 50 tasks, then obviously that would be visible on camera. But for something as simple and quick as this, I don’t think you can realistically check it with cameras or virtual footage.”

“We also don’t want to start equipping people with lie detectors and conducting interrogations under bright lights, or anything like that. That’s not what we aim to do here.”

“I’ve obviously worked in teams in the past, quite often, and employed people from other teams. I think there’s sometimes a tendency to say, well, where I come from, we did X, Y, or Z.”

“And sometimes, those comments need to be taken with a lot of caution. You can’t escalate an issue based solely on a few remarks made by competitors.”