FIA set record straight on Red Bull brake rumours after new ‘forbidden’ rule

The FIA has clarified that no team on the grid has been using a banned braking system, after unfounded rumours linked Red Bull to using one.

The FIA World Motor Sport Council ratified changes to the technical regulations over the summer break, including additional text to explicitly outlaw asymmetrical braking torques, which led to online speculation about whether Red Bull had been running such a system on their car prior to the Miami Grand Prix.

FIA clarify braking system changes after unfounded Red Bull rumours

A change to the text of Article 11.1.2 of Formula 1’s technical regulations saw the addition of text regarding this area of the car, outlawing asymmetrical braking systems in writing from July 31st.

“The brake system must be designed so that within each circuit, the forces applied to the brake pads are the same magnitude and act as opposing pairs on a given brake disc,” was the previous wording in the law, before the additional text read: “Any system or mechanism which can produce systematically or intentionally, asymmetric braking torques for a given axle is forbidden.”

The FIA has now confirmed that nobody on the grid had been running a banned brake system, but rather the wording of the rule change has been as such to prevent teams from falling foul in the future, and while this kind of system would have already been illegal from 2026, the wording has made it clearer in the rules.

An FIA spokesperson told Motorsport.com : “There is no truth that any team was using such a system.”

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Due to the mid-season change in the regulations, this led to speculation about whether the FIA was responding to one or more teams running such a system on their car, with rumours following about whether Red Bull had been running one on the RB20 and subsequently taking it off, with the likes of McLaren and Mercedes catching up to their performance levels from the Miami Grand Prix onwards.

Given PlanetF1.com understands these changes came into effect on 31st July, this rule change therefore could not have had an impact on Red Bull’s performances prior to this date.

The brake theory had been floated on social media but was then labelled “bull****” by Red Bull engineer Calum Nicholas, who added on X: “The only reason I care about this stuff is because really, people should just be giving the other teams the credit they deserve for putting in the work and catching up.

“Not everything has to be some big conspiracy.”

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