The low rider is a little higher. Low rider drives a little faster. Low rider is a real goer. (With apologies to War, for corrupting their song for the purposes of this article.)
For some time now, the Red Bull ride height dispute has been one of the bigger issues bubbling away in the background of Formula 1. It was in Melbourne that McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh first commented on the possibility of some teams using adjustable ride height systems.
"It looks like Red Bull and some other cars are able to run lower in qualifying than you would expect if they're then going to fill the car with fuel afterwards," Whitmarsh said. "Frankly a few months ago if the engineers had come to me and said: 'We're going to design this system,' I would have said: 'Actually, I don't think it's permissible'. I think there's some evidence that there are ride-high control systems that some people would think are not permissible.
"As you can imagine, we are now working hard on such systems. The original ruling was that such systems were not allowed but we now have to get those systems as quickly as possible - hopefully by China."
Red Bull have denied that such a system exists on their car, but that hasn't stopped the rumour mills from turning. Dr Helmut Marko, the team's advisor told a German F1 site: "Normally we would not comment. We have come to the races for the technical inspections and have been thoroughly examined. Again on Thursday, the legality of our car was confirmed absolutely."
Team principal Christian Horner and technical director Adrian Newey joined in the denials, with Horner saying he could "absolutely guarantee" there was no ride height control system on the RB6. "We haven't got one, it is as simple as that. If McLaren have one in China we will protest them, because theoretically they are illegal. The FIA had a good look at our car on Saturday night and they are happy with it – they will struggle to find anything because there simply isn't anything there."
No one knows whether or not ride height control systems are in use on any of this year's cars, but Red Bull and Ferrari are the two teams suspected of finding a cunning way to bend the rules.
McLaren are not alone in querying the way that some cars seem to be bottoming out in low-fuel qualifying, while sitting comfortably during the race. Mercedes have raised questions, with Ross Brawn telling Finland's Turun Sanomat "I have asked for [FIA] clarification about the situation."
Although there have been mutterings in the press about possible ride height control systems, there were no official complaints to the FIA. In order to make a complaint, one must first know what it is one is complaining about. The ride height systems, while subject to much internet rumour, have been shrouded in mystery. Unlike last year's double diffusers, ride height systems will form part of the inner workings of the car – while any that might exist will have been through FIA scrutineering, the other teams won't have had a glimpse.
As the general rule in Formula 1 seems to be 'if you can't ban it, build it', teams are now in a race to come up with a legal way of lowering their ride height in qualifying as quickly as possible. Keeping an empty car running low enables the double diffusers to work at maximum efficiency in qualifying, making for fast times on low fuel.
The problem lies in the FIA's regulations, which seem to ban any adjustments to the car between qualifying and race. Seem is the key word in that sentence – winning in Formula 1 is a matter of interpreting the rules to your advantage, staying legal while coming up with innovations the competition might have dismissed as too 'grey area'.
Under the rules of parc ferme, adjustments to suspension and ride height are illegal from the moment the car first leaves the pitlane in qualifying on Saturday to the 
moment the lights go out for Sunday's race. The technical regulations also ban adjustments to the suspension while the car is in motion, meaning that teams who might wish to tweak their ride height will need to wait until the first pit stop to do so.
The FIA is now seeking to clarify the matter, and has written to all of the teams to remind them of the 2010 regulations. "Any system, device or procedure, the purpose and /or the effect of which is to change the set up of the suspension whilst the car is under parc ferme conditions will be deemed to contravene Article 34.5 of the F1 Sporting Regulations," a spokesman said.
Additionally, "any self leveling damper system is likely to contravene (article) 3.15 of the Technical Regulations."
Article 3.15 of the Technical Regulations covers aerodynamics, and reads: "Aerodynamic influence: With the exception of the cover described in Article 6.5.2 (when used in the pit lane), the driver adjustable bodywork described in Article 3.18 and the ducts described in Article 11.4, any specific part of the car influencing its aerodynamic performance: must comply with the rules relating to bodywork; must be rigidly secured to the entirely sprung part of the car (rigidly secured means not having any degree of freedom); must remain immobile in relation to the sprung part of the car. Any device or construction that is designed to bridge the gap between the sprung part of the car and the ground is prohibited under all circumstances. No part having an aerodynamic influence and no part of the bodywork, with the exception of the skid block in 3.13 above, may under any circumstances be located below the reference plane."
The FIA's clarification may not be crystal clear, but it does appear to ban most of the suggestions that have been bandied about as possible ways and means of maximising qualifying performance.
Any ride height adjustment systems currently in development are going to have to find different grey areas to manipulate, as flouting direction instruction from the FIA is not going to win any championships.
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