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Red Bull hopes that car modifications to assure the FIA its ride height adjustment device is not used under parc ferme conditions will be ready for the Brazilian Grand Prix.

The Milton Keynes-based team has been at the centre of technical intrigue ahead of this weekend’s United States GP after it emerged the FIA was ramping up its monitoring of a potential way that adjustments could be made to its car between qualifying and the race.

As first revealed by Motorsport.com, concerns had been voiced by several teams that a device Red Bull had inside its car allowed settings to be changed to alter the height of its front bib under parc ferme conditions.

The FIA is clear that there is no evidence Red Bull had ever made changes illegally, and the Milton Keynes-based squad is also adamant that it has always fully complied with the regulations.

However, from this weekend’s race in the USA, the FIA is being more robust in checking what teams are doing – and looks set to add seals to the Red Bull device to ensure that it cannot be moved once parc ferme conditions begin in qualifying.

Furthermore, following discussions that have taken place between Red Bull and the FIA, a plan has been agreed about further guaranteeing that it is doing nothing untoward – and it is understood that part of this involves the team making modifications to its car in this area.

Red Bull RB20

Photo by: Andreas Beil

Sources have suggested that the revisions are not something that can be done immediately, because the adjustment device is in an intricate part of the car, but it is hoped the changes will be ready for the race at Interlagos next month.

The height adjustment device is nothing more than a screw-type system that can be twisted by a mechanic with a tool to raise and lower the height of the T-tray.

All teams have such a system, although it is understood that Red Bull’s is unique in it being accessible from inside the car – so it is hidden from view to outside observers.

The outfit has also been open that it is not hiding anything, especially because the design of its adjustment device has to be published on FIA servers as part of the open source element of the regulations.

A senior team figure said in Austin about the adjuster: “Yes, it exists although it is inaccessible once the car is fully assembled and ready to run.”

The device is not very easy to see, with it requiring a panel fitted to the cockpit to be lifted, to allow a mechanic to then reach within a recess to adjust it.

While this means it is not something that can be done quickly and easily by the team, the FIA is well aware that it is also something that could be done during the work that is regularly completed on cars after qualifying to prepare them for the race.

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Andrea Iannone will make a surprise MotoGP comeback replacing the injured Fabio di Giannantonio at the VR46 Ducati team for the penultimate grand prix of the 2024 season in Malaysia early next month.

As reported by GPOne, the one-time grand prix winner has received the nod from Valentino Rossi for Sepang, with the agreement of Ducati’s Gigi Dall’Igna. The Italian, who last raced in MotoGP in 2019 before a drugs ban, will head into the Malaysian round without any preparatory test.

GPOne also reported that Ducati test rider Michele Pirro will get the substitute role at the Valencia finale on 15-17 November.

Di Giannantonio announced on Thursday that he would skip the grands prix in Malaysia and Valencia in order to undergo surgery.  

This news puts paid to rumours that Ducati’s WorldSBK rider Nicolo Bugela or Ducati’s satellite SBK rider Danilo Petrucci would step into the breach at VR46. 

Iannone raced seven seasons in MotoGP, including four with Ducati between 2013 and 2016, taking his only victory at the Austrian Grand Prix in that final year. After leaving the Bologna factory he raced two years with Suzuki before signing for Aprilia in 2019.

Fabio Di Giannantonio, VR46 Racing Team

Photo by: Gold and Goose / Motorsport Images

That season, at the Malaysian GP in fact, Iannone failed a doping test, which led to a four-year ban that could have spelt the end of his top-level motorcycle career. 

Having served the ban, however, he returned to WorldSBK this season with Ducati’s Go Eleven team. He took his first victory at Aragon a few weeks ago and has announced that he will remain for 2025.

The final round of the WorldSBK season takes place at Jerez this weekend. Iannone heads into the finale sitting seventh in the championship.

Di Giannantonio’s decision to undergo surgery two races before the end of the season allows the MotoGP race winner to have work done on the shoulder he injured in an accident at the Austrian GP in August. 

Missing the final two rounds means he should return to full fitness for the start of the 2025 season, where he will remain with VR46 but benefit from an upgrade and ride a factory GP25 Ducati.

F1 drivers have voiced differing opinions on the series getting rid of the extra point for achieving the fastest lap.

On Thursday ahead of the USGP, the FIA’s World Motor Sport Council announced various tweaks to F1’s regulations, with the bonus point for the fastest lap disappearing from 2025 onwards.

The rule to award the fastest race lap by a driver from the top 10 was introduced in 2019 to add an extra element to the spectacle, and give drivers in lower points positions an added incentive to push for a fastest lap near the end of the race.

But the rule change rarely had its desired effect, with the point often decided by the race circumstances rather than outright speed. The majority of the drivers who were quizzed about the change were therefore not particularly sad to see it go.

“I always was of the opinion that it was a not needed, mainly because of how it is achieved,” said Ferrari driver Carlos Sainz. “Right now, that point goes to the one that has a free pitstop one lap to the end of the race. So, it’s not showing who is the fastest guy in the race, and he deserves one point for being the fastest guy.

“Most of the time, it’s a point that goes to the guy that by chance or by luck or by race situation has a free pit stop at some point of the race.”

Mercedes’ George Russell wholeheartedly agreed with Sainz: “I always thought the point for fastest lap was a bit pointless because it would always be the driver who was having a tough race and would pit, put new tyres on and gain the extra point.

“I never really saw the benefit of that, so sort of glad to see that’s gone,” Russell added, with Sainz’s team-mate Charles Leclerc voicing a similar opinion.

Sergio Perez en route to a Fastest Lap at the 2024 Belgian Grand Prix, Red Bull Racing RB20

Photo by: Erik Junius

‘We are talking about 24 points a season’

Not every driver is on the same page, however, as Red Bull Racing driver Sergio Perez quite liked the added element to race day, especially the added pressure on drivers and teams to chase the fastest lap at the end of the race.

“I don’t really agree,” he said. “It gave a lot. There were races especially when the championship is pretty tight between teams and drivers, where that could really make a difference. We are talking about 24 points a season.

“I don’t know why it changed, I just felt like it was quite good. When you go for it, it is quite a lot of pressure for the mechanics to deliver the right stop, for you to deliver the right lap. I don’t think it was the best move.”

When asked if bonus points still have a future in F1, for example by rewarding the polesitter, Sainz was more enthused.

“Yeah, I agree. Pole position is something that, at least in Formula 1, is given a lot of value,” he said. “And obviously as drivers in qualifying, we like being the fastest because it shows you have maybe done the cleanest lap, you’ve maybe taken more risks… you’ve put everything on the line to go on pole.

“In a field where only one car is going to get all the pole positions, it makes less sense. But in the ideal scenario of a tight field, I think it could make more sense than the fastest lap of the race.”

Richie Stanaway will continue in a full-time capacity for the 2025 Supercars season but in PremiAir Nulon colours, where he will partner James Golding.

The news follows Grove Racing’s decision to part company with the 32-year-old after only a single season, replacing him with Super2 champion Kai Allen.

This will be only the fourth full-time season for Stanaway, with a season being spent at Tickford Racing and Garry Rogers Motorsport – where he partnered new team-mate Golding – before being utilised only in a co-driver capacity for the endurance rounds in 2022 and 2023, something he had done previously in 2016 and 2017.

Stanaway’s Supercars future had appeared to be in the balance with limited full-time opportunities remaining after Brodie Kostecki’s Dick Johnson Racing switch was confirmed, bringing to an end his successful but tumultuous period with Erebus Motorsport.

But Tim Slade’s retirement from full-time competition opened an unexpected door at PremiAir Racing, a move that will see Stanaway drive in Triple Eight-prepared machinery – the team with which he and Shane van Gisbergen won the 2023 Bathurst 1000.

“I could not be more excited about this opportunity to join PremiAir Nulon Racing,” Stanaway said.

“The passion and enthusiasm held by Peter and Carmen Xiberras and the entire team is absolutely undeniable, and the commitment they have shown in the three short years they have been a part of the Supercars championship is impressive.

“The results of that are really starting to show with their first podium coming at Sandown, and I look forward to hopefully being a part of many more great results to come from next year.”

Richie Stanaway, Grove Racing Ford Mustang GT

Photo by: Edge Photographics

Stanaway’s career is more varied than most in the Supercars paddock, with significant time spent in Europe where he competed for Aston Martin in the World Endurance Championship and drove 22 GP3 races, scoring three wins.

Before making his F3 debut, the New Zealander stormed to the German F3 title, with 13 wins from 18 races.

“There is no doubting Richie is exceptionally talented – you don’t have a CV like his or win the Bathurst 1000 by accident after all – and while he was forced to endure an early exit at Sandown this year, it was clear that he has what it takes, especially when the weather gods are against you,” said team boss Peter Xiberras.

“We look forward to having Richie join our team alongside Jimmy Golding and seeing what we can achieve together.”

PremiAri Nulon’s confirmation of Stanaway means that only two seats remain open for the coming year, with these both at Brad Jones Racing with neither Jaxon Evans nor Macauley Jones locked in.

However, team owner Brad Jones has suggested he expects to field an unchanged line-up.

This is bad news for former champion Mark Winterbottom, who appears set to miss out after being replaced at Team 18 by Anton de Pasquale.