Brown on Red Bull ride height device saga: I'd like more answers

As the US Grand Prix weekend in Austin developed, it was revealed that Red Bull agreed to adjust their car when it was revealed that they had a ride height adjustment device in the cockpit which had raised doubts that the team can adjust the height of the front bib of the car between sessions, in parc ferme conditions to be specific, which is illegal.

The device in itself is legal but F1 teams were not satisfied that Red Bull were not abusing it, the latter strongly denying they ever used it claiming it cannot be accessed when the car is fully assembled.

The FIA were satisfied with Red Bull's explanation, but Brown, whose team and driver Lando Norris are locked in a championship battle with Red Bull and Max Verstappen is not satisfied.

"I'm very happy to see the FIA is on it," Brown told Sky Sports F1. "I think it needs to be a very thorough investigation because if you touch your car from a performance standpoint in parc ferme, that is a black and white material, substantial breach - which should come with massive consequences.

“Touching your car after parc ferme is highly illegal within the rules. So I think the FIA needs to get to the bottom of: were they, weren't they?

"When you see cleverly worded comments like you can't do it when it's fully assembled…I know the car isn't always fully assembled," the American went on. "And then the FIA feels they need to put a seal on it. Why would the FIA need to put a seal on something if it wasn't accessible?

"Transparency is critically important in today's day and age. So I still have questions. I know from talking to other team bosses, they still have questions. So until those questions are answered, I think it is still an ongoing investigation to bottom out, you know: what do we know?

“I'd like some more answers before I'm prepared to kind of go: 'Right, I guess they were or they weren't.' But I think the FIA will bottom it out," Brown maintained.

Quizzed if he believed Red Bull had broken the rules, Brown said: "Why would you design it to be inside the car, when the nine other teams haven't?

"It'd be unfair of me to say, of course. I have an opinion on whether I think they have or haven't, but I think the FIA needs to be very diligent in their bottoming out whether they think they [Red Bull] have or haven't," he concluded.

Following FP1 in Austin, Motorsport.com revealed that "two FIA officials were seen watching a Red Bull mechanic demonstrate how the team uses the device - and, presumably, how the team cannot use it in parc ferme conditions" and went on to report that the FIA officials put a sticker seal on the part - right in front of the TV cameras.