The FIA also emphasized in a statement that there was no evidence of fraud by Red Bull. Nevertheless, the supervisory authority wants to keep a close eye on the situation. “In this context, we have made procedural adjustments to ensure that the front ground clearance cannot be easily changed,” it said in a statement. “In some cases this may require the affixing of a seal,” the Fia continued.
This means: The FIA may attach a sticker to the component of the Red Bull before the start of qualifying. If Red Bull were to use the part between qualifying and the race, this would be evident if the seal was damaged. If the Austrian team used the construction illegally, they will no longer be able to do so in the future.
The race in Austin this weekend should already shed light on whether Red Bull was actually caught cheating or whether the whole thing was possibly just a ploy by competitor McLaren to cause trouble. A significant drop in performance at Red Bull would indicate fraud, but if the performance remained the same, it was probably much ado about nothing.
Even McLaren’s World Cup hope Lando Norris wasn’t quite happy about the supposed setback for his title rival: “It’s one thing to have it on the car. It’s another thing how much you exploit and use it, and we have no idea about it,” said the Brit. “If it helped them, if they used it the way people think, then maybe it will help us,” he said. Verstappen is now convinced of the opposite: “Honestly, I’m not worried about anything. I just want to have fun and do my best. And as far as the skids are concerned, that doesn’t change anything for me, everything is okay.”