‘Our rivals are telling a cock and Bull story’
HORNER HITS OUT AT CHEAT CLAIMS
RED BULL chief Christian Horner has accused rival boss Toto Wolff of “hugely defamatory, fictitious claims” and threatened legal action against Mercedes amid the cheat row overshadowing today’s Singapore Grand Prix.
In a fiery press conference yesterday, Horner insisted he is “absolutely confident” Red Bull did not overspend as Max Verstappen beat Lewis Hamilton to last year’s controversial championship.
Horner also suggested the accusations that Red Bull broke F1’s budget cap have been planted to take the spotlight away from Verstappen, who could claim his second title in as many seasons today.
Wolff (right) had demanded Formula One’s governing, the FIA, take robust action if Red Bull have broken the rules. Ferrari have also complained publicly.
Horner said: “We were a little bit taken aback by the comments from our two rival teams. The submissions
between the team and the FIA is confidential, and I have no idea what the outcome of our rivals’ submission is so I would be intrigued to know where their source of information for these fictitious claims has come from.
“They are hugely defamatory, and one can only assume that it is not a coincidence that this comes at a point where Max has his first strike at a world championship.
“We are here talking about cost caps rather than the phenomenal performance Max has had this year. It is an underhand tactic employed to detract from perhaps a lack of performance on track from our rivals.
“The FIA has stated that they have not completed their process, so unless there is a clear withdrawal of those statements, we will be taking it extremely seriously. We will look at all the options available to us because it is absolutely unacceptable to be making the comments that were made on Friday, which are totally defamatory to the team, to the brands, and to Formula One. “To reiterate, what is totally unacceptable, is for teams that are not party to any form of the submission to be making claims about our submission and about perspective penalties. It is just bang out of order.” F1 introduced a budget cap of £114million last year. The FIA is assessing Red Bull’s finances, with a verdict set to be revealed on Wednesday. Sanctions available to the sporting federation range from a reprimand to financial penalties to a deduction of drivers’ championship points. The latter would have an impact on last season’s result. Verstappen took the title by eight points ahead of Hamilton.