Christian Horner has slammed Mercedes for lobbying too much to change the recent floor regulations which irked Red Bull.
Due to the 2022 aerodynamics regulations, several teams were having porpoising issues. Mercedes was the biggest loser in it, and their main rivals Red Bull were the least affected.
Therefore, the Milton-Keynes-based team definitely had an edge over the Silver Arrows. Recently, the FIA gave a new regulation to combat excessive bouncing.
This new regulation by the FIA irked Red Bull. They were annoyed by a mid-season change and called it unfair. Now, Red Bull boss Christian Horner accuses Mercedes of lobbying too hard in front of the governing body.
“It’s not so much the directive that’s an issue,” Horner told Sky Sports F1 following FP2 of the French Grand Prix. “I think the problem is what they’re looking at as a remedy is for next year because the directive is neither here nor there for us.
“I think there’s an awful lot of lobbying to change regulations significantly for next year so a certain team can run its car lower and benefit from that concept, which, you know, it’s a very late point in the year to be doing this.”
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Christian Horner and Toto Wolff again in a war of words
The two team principals have been at war with each other for over years. The tensions between the two teams peaked last season when both sides were vying for the championship.
This year it seemed like the banter between the two sides would dwindle down this year due to a performative dip in Mercedes. But with the Silver Arrows becoming a threat again with their recent upgrades, the two are back in their business.
“You may have someone that wins but doesn’t win in the right way, but that’s not going to last. And… karma exists. I’m not looking at one race or one season, I’m looking at ten or twenty years.
“The ‘win at all costs’ mentality is something that I would have endorsed a couple of years ago. Today, I still want to win, but I want to win in the right way.”
“I have values and a mindset that I want to stand for in the team. I believe in humility, in honesty, integrity and transparency. These are ingredients that are important in the long term.”
Also read: F1 Twitter lauds 7-time World Champion for coaching Nyck de Vries during FP1 of French GP
