Guenther Steiner issues theory on FIA brake rule change

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Over the summer break, the FIA made a small change to the technical regulations that outlawed the use of an asymmetrical braking system.

The addition to the paragraph in Article 11.1.2 of the regulations stated: “Any system or mechanism which can produce systematically or intentionally, asymmetric braking torques for a given axle is forbidden.”

Mid-season rule changes are not uncommon but the nature of the change prompted speculation that the FIA was responding to a potential mechanism present on a car that one or more teams were using.

A prime target of this was Red Bull due to their drop off in form in recent races, however, their mechanic Calum Nicholas slammed ‘conspiracy theories’ that were thrown around.

The reality is very different according to former Haas boss Guenther Steiner, who offered a theory as to why it was changed when speaking on the Red Flags podcast.

Guenther Steiner theory on FIA brake rule change

The speculation claimed that Red Bull was running a ‘clever’ brake part that was outlawed before Miami, which involved a cross-brake inertia valve that could effectively produce a brake-steer function.

Steiner believes such a mechanism would be complicated to implement and it is likely being done in response to a query to the FIA.

“You never can say ‘100% no’ but I would not think that there was something in there. It was more like somebody came up with the idea and found out a way to do this and just asked, can I do this or not? And obviously you cannot,” said Steiner.

“I don’t think, you know, the FIA wouldn’t have waited this long, or it wouldn’t have taken the FIA this long to find this out. They can see all the channels of the telemetry and you can see if there is a different brake pressure from left to right pretty clearly on data. So I think to hide this would be very difficult, very difficult.”

FIA future-proofing regulations

It has since emerged that the FIA made the update as a supplemental change to the original text, with the original text enough to outlaw any asymmetric braking system.

The motivation came from efforts to tidy up the regulations for 2026 and to provide more clarity on what is and isn’t allowed under the rules.

READ MORE: Everything we know about F1’s 2026 regulation changes so far from engines to tyres

According to Autosport, the specific clause was added to outlaw asymmetric braking completely and the update to the 2024 and 2025 regulations follows a request from teams to ensure nobody tried to exploit grey areas.

If any team was found to have been running any illegal brake system, the FIA would have first issued a Technical Directive to all teams – thus alerting rivals – rather than making a mid-season regulation change.