As the Championship leader, Red Bull started off strong in 2024 with some brilliant wins for Max Verstappen. In the season opener in Bahrain, the Dutchman took his first victory. And the chain of top positions continued until it stumbled to a halt in Australia. In Melbourne, Verstappen DNF’ed as Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz took the victory. And then, Max stepped on the gas and gave us some more wins until the Miami GP saw McLaren’s dark horse Lando Norris beat him to win his maiden Grand Prix. Ever since then, the RB-20 has not seemed as powerful as it had in the first few races of the current season.

Meanwhile, McLaren’s upgrades which they added to the MCL36 have helped the team get the second spot on the World Constructors’ Championship standings. The papaya army is now only 42 points behind Red Bull. The steady narrowing of the gap between RBR and McLaren has raised a few eyebrows of the onlookers, including Peter Windsor. The F1 manager-turned-journalist found an answer to his questions on what led to Red Bull’s dip in race pace. And thus, he shared his opinions on the microblogging site, X, for the world to see. In his words, Red Bull “might have been running a clever rear cross-brake inertia valve before they were obliged to remove it before Miami.”

However, Red Bull mechanic Calum Nicholas happened upon this post. As the team’s Senior Engine Technician, he ditched the views that Windsor presented, saying, “This is bulls**t, unsurprisingly.” Thus, the ex-Marussia mechanic has dispelled the rumors that Red Bull had fitted an illegal part to their car so that Max Verstappen and his teammate Sergio Perez could enjoy an aerodynamic advantage.

But Peter Windsor is not the only one who has raised this point. Previously, F1 columnist Robin Frijns had also claimed a very similar story. So, what did he say?

Robin Frijns claimed Red Bull was up to some wrongdoing at the start of 2024

Formula 1 is a tough sport where the teams are always at each other’s neck for the Constructors’ Championship. But after eight years of Mercedes’ dominance, it was Red Bull that broke the Silver Arrows’ streak and got the F1 title for themselves. Interestingly, in 2022, Red Bull had won by a gap of 205 points which increased to a whopping 451 points last year. However, this time, it looks like McLaren can surpass the Austrian outfit as its gap to Red Bull is only by 42 points.

To explain how RBR suffered such a blow, Robin Frijns claimed, “What I’ve heard from Spanish media is that the FIA has found something, or that other teams have complained about something specific on Red Bull’s car and eventually had to change it as well. As a result, they would have lost a lot of speed.” This massive allegation still remains hearsay because none of the rival teams of Red Bull have spoken up regarding the protest that Frijns mentioned in his statement.

When the F1 season resumes after the current summer break, Red Bull will have only 11 races to build an insurmountable difference to McLaren. Do you think they can achieve that feat or will they lose the Constructors’ title to McLaren?