FIA denies that any teams used asymmetrical brakes in 2024

Following recent rumours that Red Bull might have exploited the benefits of a tricky brake design, Formula One's governing body, the FIA has denied that any team ran an asymmetrical brake assembly during the 2024 F1 season.

Following the recent FIA World Motor Sport Council meeting, the Paris-based governing body has introduced a raft of tweaks to the sporting and technical rules to address possible loopholes in the regulation. One of the tweaks sees FIA introduce a ban on asymmetrical braking with the new rule set to come into force at next weekend's Dutch Grand Prix at Zandvoort.

Teams could use an asymmetric braking system to address the conflict between the low-speed understeer and high-speed oversteer as having greater braking force on the inside rear than on the outside would help control the car, reducing the understeer.

The modification in question concerns Art. 11.1.2 (“Brake System”), which now states (modification in bold): “The braking system must be designed so that, within each circuit, the forces applied to the brake pads are of the same magnitude and act as opposing pairs on a given brake disc.

Although the governing body did not mention any teams that would have been using this tricky assembly, but the clarification has been made to close off its possible future developments.

Following the confirmation of the ban, some suggested that Red Bull might have been in the centre of the matter. F1 reporter Peter Windsor has suggested that Red Bull were the team which forced the FIA to address the issue before it escalates. Windsor has indicated that the Milton Keynes-based team were ordered to remove the asymmetrical braking assembly before the Florida race.

The respected publication Autosport approached the FIA to ask the reason for the in-season change, and a spokesman of the governing body confirmed that "there is no truth that any team was using such a system."

Last week saw Calum Nicholas, a mechanic who has been with Red Bull since 2015, dispute the claim that the team had been ordered to remove any such valve that would operate a potential asymmetrical braking system.

Responding to Windsor’s post on Twitter, Nicholas wrote with an accompanying rolling-eye emoji: “Yea [sic]… this is bull***… unsurprisingly. I’ve been building the car for the last 14 races, he hasn’t.”