Formula 1

F1 News: Red Bull Chief Confirms Exactly How He Feels About Mercedes Changes For Bahrain Testing

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has fully confirmed how he feels about the new Mercedes W13 as both the bulls and the silver arrows attend the Bahrain testing this week. This comes only days after he was reportedly misquoted saying that he didn’t think the car was legal after the removal of its sidepods. Now, he’s confirmed that he believes the car is “absolutely legal”.

– Red Bull Media

According to Auto Motor und Sport, a German news site, Horner said the following:

“For us, there are some parts that are not legal”

Red Bull quickly follows this report with a statement, adding that Horner has made no official comment. Horner himself also followed this up:

“I was slightly surprised to be reading comments I’m supposed to have been making, but there we go,” Horner told Sky F1.

“I haven’t paid a great deal of attention to [the Mercedes]. It’s obviously a fairly different concept, but that’s for the designer guys and aerodynamicists to get into.

“Let the guys digest it and understand it.”

– Red Bull Media

Today, he’s spoken about the W13 yet again, but this time he’s shone a very positive light on the car and shows his appreciation for the sport and how its regulations can be interpreted:

“What is so good about this sport is you get a clean sheet of paper and you get 10 different interpretations.

“Mercedes have come up with an extreme one that’s a different interpretation but to answer whether we think it’s legal or not, yes, absolutely. It looks like it ticks all the boxes.

“I think it’s interesting. It’s very innovative what Mercedes have come up with. It’s quite a different concept to what we have pursued and certainly some of the others have.

“It shows the creativity that exists, even within restrictive regulations in Formula 1, that very different solutions can come out.

“Whether it’s the right route, time will tell. What we see in Formula 1 is there tends to be convergence over a period of time of design philosophies.”

– Red Bull Media

He also confirmed once again that he was misquoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

“I think comments have been quoted that certainly weren’t made,” he said. “The (Mercedes) car is obviously innovative, it’s an interesting solution.

“As far as we are concerned, the Mercedes car looks like it complied with the regulations. It’s just a different interpretation and a different solution.”

He was later asked whether he thought these changes were reflective of the spirit of regulations, a term that’s been hanging around since these modifications to the car were first rumoured:

“There isn’t really anything that defines the spirit of the regulations, it either complies or it doesn’t.

“It’s not really for us to judge. The FIA have access to all of the drawings. A design like that would have surely been submitted in advance.

“It’s an interesting concept, a radical concept.”

Alex Harrington

Alex started racing at a young age so certainly knows his way around a car and a track. He can just about put a sentence together too, which helps. He has a great interest in the latest models, but would throw all of his money at a rusty old French classic and a 300ZX. Contact: alex@grandtournation.com

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