Red Bull boss, Christian Horner has denied claims that it is the latest technical directive from the FIA that has impacted his team's performance this weekend.

Having looked off the pace throughout all three practice sessions, with drivers Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez complaining about all manner of issues including balance and rear grip, the reality of the situation hit home in qualifying when neither made it out of Q2.

Though mystified by the sudden drop-off in performance - the team having won all previous 14 races this season - Christian Horner is adamant that it is not the result of the latest technical directive from the FIA aimed at clamping down on flexing bodywork.

At the end of August, the teams were given notice of the intention to issue the directive (TD018), after the FIA's technical director, Tim Goss noticed "a little bit too much freedom being applied to the design details of aerodynamic components", this weekend's Grand Prix being the first since it was issued.

"It's very, very confusing, to have dropped the amount of pace that we have," Horner told Sky Sports.

"The car's just not responding to changes," he added, "you can hear this understeer, oversteer, braking issues, it's like we haven't managed to get the tyre into the right working window.

"The car we have here for qualifying is essentially the identical car that we had two weeks ago in Monza and a week before that in Zandvoort," he insisted.

"Nothing's changed on the car. We tried a new aero part on Friday and we thought OK we'll revert on that component, so it's a tried and tested set-up that we have. But it just hasn't responded on this circuit, on this asphalt."

Meanwhile, when asked if he believes it is the directive to blame for Red Bull's sudden lack of performance, Mercedes boss, Toto Wolff was unusually coy.

"It's so difficult," he said. "We have one set of data now, Friday and Saturday in Singapore, tomorrow is a race and then we're going to move it a different track where that plays a role. So let's wait.

"We've seen those one-offs with Mercedes in the past and that's why I'd rather now concentrate on what we can deliver tomorrow than think too much about whether that could have had an effect yet."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Wokingchap, 17/09/2023 20:15

"Some rather sour faces at rb.....looks like the tec directive had the desired effect."

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2. Posted by Ricardo_sanchez, 17/09/2023 12:03

"I wouldn’t bet against at Verstappen win, even from this grid position. If he were to pull that off, it would certainly cement his place amongst the legends of the sport. I think we might be in for a great race. "

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3. Posted by Spindoctor, 17/09/2023 9:59

"I'm no fan of RNBR, nor Horner (you guessed?) but correlation isn't causality. I guess we'll find out when we see what happens in the race ( an exciting "drive through the field", perhaps?) & at subsequent events."

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4. Posted by F1nerd, 17/09/2023 9:24

"All this does not mean Max will not win the race. He is very good at fighting his way back through the field, so watch this space. I would rather see CS55 take the win with CL16 on the podium as well."

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Horner denies technical directive has impacted RB19

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