Red Bull set to be hit hard by FIA clampdown

The possibility of new regulations being implemented in F1 could be set to have a significant impact on Red Bull operations going forward.

The FIA - the sport's governing body - are working on a series of rule tweaks ahead of next season with the intention of segregating so-called A/B-teams in an effort to stop squads benefitting from working together.

Red Bull are currently joined in F1 by sister team Racing Bulls, with many of their drivers including star man Max Verstappen having gained vital experience at the junior outfit.

F1 are set to revamp the rulebook in 2026, and according to The Race, part of that restructuring 'will include extra provision in F1's operational regulations, known as Section F, to get stricter in terms of how much teams can form alliances'.

The FIA's single-seater director, Nikolas Tombazis, said: "We are working on clarifying more how teams, let's call them A and B teams, operate in terms of putting in provisions that stops those that have some sort of close relationship from helping each other or collaborating.

"We are putting some provisions on the IT side, to make sure that IT systems are segregated, so they cannot share designs, or anything like that.

"And there will also be physical segregation and what details of what provisions need to be respected."

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Tombazis continued: "There's already a lot of provisions, but it is a very complicated set of conditions that teams need to satisfy.

"Through the years we've got involved at various times with various situations emerging, and we've frequently had to give clarifications or responses.

"We're trying to formalise some of these things into some regulatory structure, so teams can't play different games.

"We also want to satisfy the teams that don't have any affiliation, that the key teams that do have a relationship of some sort do not gain an unfair advantage."

It's not the first time the subject has been up for debate in recent years, with McLaren CEO Zak Brown calling for change last season.

He said: "So I think the sport, as we're now in the budget cap era, has moved on to where we're trying to have 10 independent teams from a sporting, from a political, from a technical point of view.

"I think they [Red Bull] are very much playing by the rules. I have an issue with the rules - and believe the FIA needs to address this."

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