Furious Horner in threat to take rivals to court
Red Bull boss hits back at Mercedes budget cap claims
CHRISTIAN HORNER came out fighting in Singapore by threatening legal action against Mercedes boss Toto Wolff for making ‘underhand’ and ‘fictitious’ claims which he believes are intended to distract from Max Verstappen’s hunt for a second world title.
The Dutchman’s pursuit of the prize did not go to plan in qualifying after he was told to abort his final flying lap to ensure he had the required one litre of fuel left for scrutineering. So he will start from eighth with Ferrari’s Charles Leclerc on pole, meaning the season’s star performer needs a series of breaks to wrap up his serene defence here with five races to spare.
But while that miscalculation was a blow to Red Bull, the real pain centred on Mercedes insinuations of Friday that they breached the £114million budget cap last year, an offence which if proven might have implications on the 2021 World Championship results 10 months after Verstappen dramatically pipped Lewis Hamilton to the crown in Abu Dhabi.
But in a blistering defence, Horner hit back, defending his team’s spending as legal. He said: ‘We were taken aback by the comments from our two rival teams (Mercedes and Ferrari). The submissions between the team and the FIA are confidential, so I would be intrigued to know what their source of information for these fictitious claims is.
‘They are hugely defamatory. Perhaps people in glass houses should not throw stones. Is it any coincidence that Max has his first shot at winning the title and we are here talking nothing about cost caps rather than the phenomenal performance he has produced?
‘It is an underhand tactic employed to detract from (Mercedes’) lack of performance, and when references are made to what impact this has on us last year, this year, next year, we are going to take it extremely seriously. This is an issue for the FIA to deal with and one for Red Bull to consider what our position is.
‘Unless there is a clear withdrawal of those statements we will be seriously looking at the options available to us because it is absolutely unacceptable to be making the comments that were made yesterday, which defame the team, associated brands and Formula One.’
The FIA will announce on Wednesday whether Red Bull breached the spending limit when they complete the auditing process to which all teams are subject as part of a process that has been delayed from the original completion date of June.
A number of sanctions are open to the FIA, including docking points in last year’s drivers’ and constructors’ standings.
‘We made the submission in March and we stand 100 per cent behind the belief we are below the cap,’ said Horner. ‘That has to be signed off by your auditors and it goes through a process with the FIA.
‘There are questions and interpretations that are raised and discussed and that process is ongoing. We await with interest to see the final outcome, but we remain absolutely confident that we complied with the cap.’
While the budget controversy was on every tongue in the humid paddock, attention finally turned to qualifying. Leclerc will share the front row with Red Bull’s Sergio Perez. They are the only two men with even a mathematical notion of claiming the title from Verstappen, who leads by 116 points but was less than thrilled by his team’s hiccup.
He said: ‘What the f***! What the f***! What the f*** are you guys saying? It is unbelievable, mate.’ And so the exclamations went on, as Mary Whitehouse turned in her grave.
Hamilton qualified third best, having driven well on one of his favourite tracks. He did so wearing a nose stud — the outlawed adornment he removed at the FIA’s
behest every time he stepped into the cockpit since July.
The Briton was called before the stewards to answer for the contravention. He took with him a doctor’s note, explaining his nose was infected during the process of putting in and taking out the stud, and that keeping the piercing in was now the best cure.
Mercedes, however, were fined £25,000 for filling in the scrutineering form inaccurately, being unaware that Hamilton would drive with his jewel in place.