Red Bull’s Christian Horner rejects Lewis Hamilton claims over cost cap breaches
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Christian Horner hit back at Hamilton's claim that Red Bull received just a “smack on the wrist” for breaching F1 cost caps.
PHOTO: REUTERS
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BUDAPEST – Red Bull team chief Christian Horner on Friday responded vigorously to claims that his team escaped with only a “smack on the wrist”
Irked by comments from seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and his Mercedes teammate George Russell, Horner said it is “always easy to throw shade when you are not performing”.
Hamilton had said that the punishment meted out to Red Bull in 2022 was not a sufficient deterrent, and suggested teams would continue to break the spending limit because the likely sanction was no more than a “smack on the wrist”.
Russell said Red Bull’s punishment, for what was described as a minor over-spending in 2021, did not fit the scale of the crime.
This Formula One season’s constructors’ leaders were fined US$7 million (S$9.3 million) and given a 10 per cent reduction in wind tunnel use in 2023.
“If wind tunnels don’t count, then why don’t we just get rid of them?
“Believe me, the hit we’ve taken with the wind tunnel time compared to our competitors is a massive compromise,” Horner told UK broadcaster Sky.
Red Bull, the reigning constructors’ champion, have won every race in 2023 as defending double world champion Max Verstappen has aced eight of the 10 races, including the last six before this weekend’s Hungarian Grand Prix.
Hamilton has not won a race since he claimed his record 103rd in Saudi Arabia in 2021 when, on the final day, he was beaten to what would have been an eighth title by Verstappen in a controversial finish to the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Red Bull will set a record of 12 consecutive victories if they can win on Sunday. They share a record of 11 straight wins with McLaren, who achieved the feat in 1988.
Horner puts their unbeaten season down to just doing a better job, and not because of that budget cap overrun.
“I am just incredibly proud of the job that our team is doing with the constraints we have. To be performing at this level, to have achieved 11 straight wins is an outstanding achievement,” said the Briton. AFP
