F1 News: FIA denies Red Bull was using now-banned innovation

(GMM) A theory is emerging as to why Red Bull’s performance has been slipping during the course of the 2024 season after the FIA issued a directive.

Speaking after his son Max finished well over 20 seconds behind McLaren’s Lando Norris at Zandvoort, Jos thinks Red Bull simply lost its way amid the internal management turmoil.

“Now it is up to (Christian) Horner to get the team back on track,” he told Bild newspaper. “I’ll be surprised if he does. A lot has to happen for that. The whole spirit has to change.”

Red Bull has lost several key figures amid the dramas, including Adrian Newey and more recently Jonathan Wheatley. But another theory is that a key innovation on the 2024 Red Bull has had to be removed.

The FIA issued a technical directive before the Dutch GP, immediately banning asymmetrical braking systems. Max Verstappen issued a firm “no” at Zandvoort when asked if the ban applies to the team.

“I don’t know where that comes from,” said the triple world champion, “but we don’t have that on the car, so we’re not worried about it.”

Nonetheless, the rumors linger on.

“A lot is being said about these systems,” Spanish commentator Antonio Lobato told DAZN. “At first it was insinuated that this was possibly what the Red Bull team was allegedly banned from doing throughout the season.

“This was then denied. The FIA said that they had not banned it because someone was using it. But there are rumors that there was not only one team using it,” he added. “In any case, if directives are issued it is because the FIA has seen something or foreseen something.”

Former senior Ferrari engineer Toni Cuquerella then chimed in: “Or because someone told the FIA what was happening. Someone could have sent the information to the FIA, saying ‘Hey, this could be happening’.

“Then, the FIA issues a directive to prevent it from happening,” the Spaniard added.

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Could that someone have been Adrian Newey on his way out the door at Red Bull? Was it a version of the Newey Fiddle Brake?