Red Bull team principal Christian Horner believes Formula 1 rivals Mercedes’ radical sidepod design “ticks all the boxes”, despite claims he initially questioned their legality.
Horner was quoted by German publication Auto Motor und Sport on Thursday suggesting the sidepods were not in the spirit of F1’s revised rule package for this year.
Red Bull responded to the claims by firmly denying Horner had spoken to the media, issuing a statement insisting that the quotes were “incorrect”.
Speaking publicly for the first time about the Mercedes concept on Friday, Horner was content from his team’s analysis that the sidepod didn’t breach the new regulations.
“Mercedes has come up with an extreme [solution], that’s a different interpretation,” explained Horner, as quoted by Motorsport.com.
“But to answer the next question, whether we think it’s legal or not? Yes, absolutely. It looks like it ticks all the boxes.”
Asked why he had backtracked on his original view of the design, Horner said: “Well, I think you know, comments have been quoted that certainly weren’t made.
“I think that the car, it is obviously innovative. It is an interesting solution, as far as we are concerned. The Mercedes car looks like it complies with the regulations. It’s just a different interpretation, a different solution.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff stressed on Thursday in Bahrain he isn’t concerned about other teams questioning the legality of his team’s interpretation of the new rules.
While rivals outfits have acknowledged some areas of the Mercedes car are on the limit of what is acceptable, such as its mirror region, Horner expects the concept will have satisfied the FIA.
“There’s not really anything that defines the spirit of the regulation; it either complies or it doesn’t,” added Horner.
“That’s not really for us to judge. The FIA have the access to all of the drawings. A design like that would have surely been submitted in advance.
“So it’s an interesting concept. It’s a radical concept. So: is it quick or not? Only time will tell, but in terms of its compliance, that’s very much an FIA matter.”
Comments.
Loading comments…