Christian Horner Slams ‘Underperforming’ Lewis Hamilton and George Russell for “Slap on the Wrist” Jibe

Lewis Hamilton on Thursday claimed that teams are not being punished enough for breaching the cost cap, as the penalty levied to Red Bull for a minor breach is like a “slap on the wrist,” as per the seven-time world champion. Later in the evening, George Russell echoed the same opinion. But coming onto the next day, Christian Horner makes a strong response to the accusation by the Mercedes duo.

According to Horner, the wind tunnel reduction they received in the penalty is sizeable. It halts a massive scope of improvement, and Red Bull has to be cautious with its upgrades this season.

They are fortunate to have a sizeable gap against the others and are managing to fetch wins. But for Horner, the penalty did actually make them ‘handicapped,’ and it’s easy for the underperforming sides to throw shade.

⚠️| Red Bull’s cost cap penalty costs 0.15s per lap, according to engineers

While others have brought major packages, Red Bull’s upgrades were “gentle”.

Department heads needed to carefully choose areas of development but if any team can do it, it’s Red Bull.

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Christian Horner slams Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

After comments made by the Briton duo, the SkySports asked Horner about the comments made by his compatriots. And for him, they were not made in a good sport.

“Believe me, the hit we have taken with a lack of wind tunnel time that we have compared to our competitors is massive. If wind tunnels don’t count, why don’t we get rid of them? So it’s always easy to throw shade when you’re not performing,” said Horner to the SkySports.

Though, Horner admits that such things continue in F1. And he’s proud of his team for performing so well despite the ‘handicap’ they have. Well, the latest update by Red Bull is a testament to Red Bull’s ability to get around the technicalities and make the most out of their resources.

Red Bull made a clever upgrade

On Friday, Red Bull ran the track with new upgrades. The first noticeable change was the new radiator design. According to the Milton-Keynes-based outfit, they will gain two-tenths of a second’s pace with the new development.

Scary to see when they are already undefeated this season. But according to Sam Collins, he came across several fans asking the question of how Red Bull managed to make such a sizeable step with a lack of wind tunnel time.

According to the F1 tech expert, the radiator redesign doesn’t come under the wind tunnel allocation. Thus, he believes Red Bull got a ‘free upgrade’ because of their cleverness, and they would gain a lot as the new development settles.

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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