17/08/2021
NEWS STORY
Red Bull boss, Christian Horner has reiterated Adrian Newey's claim that this season intense lobbying over the rules from Mercedes is proof of the threat the German team knows it is facing.
Thus far, the German team has cast doubt on the legality of its opponent's rear wing, engine and even its pit stops, with team boss Toto Wolff and Lewis Hamilton never missing an opportunity to share their suspicions.
"We have experienced this before," said Adrian Newey recently, "but I can't remember a time when we have received the same level of behind the scenes politicking and lobbying against our car.
"Possibly if you look back to when we were exploring aeroelastics in 2010/2011 then we were under constant scrutiny and would adapt to each changing set of regulations," he added.
Christian Horner believes that the frequency and intensity of Mercedes lobbying of the FIA is proof that the German team finally feels threatened.
"They've put an awful lot of energy into that, more than you would expect," he is quoted as saying by Motorsport.com. "It's been a clear strategy.
"I think it just shows that they see us as a threat," he added. "And I think that you're doing something right when people start pointing fingers.
"We've benefited obviously from a degree of continuity of the carry over components," the Briton continued, the incidents at Silverstone and the Hungaroring having handed the title advantage back to Mercedes. "I think the fact the correlation had come together, that we understood where our issues were and were able to address those, I think that was the key element, certainly for the first six months of this year.
"We were actually concerned the rules were going to have a big effect on the high rake cars," he admits. "I think it was a combination of things: that we managed to understand some of our issues, managed to address an awful lot of them and just make a more rounded packaged.
"I think that, combined with Honda pulling their engine that was originally scheduled for 2022 into this year, being that final season in Formula 1, which was a Herculean effort on their side. It has enabled everything to come together."