'Defamatory remarks' - Christian Horner hints at anti-Red Bull conspiracy after Toto Wolff claims 'open secret'

Christian Horner has suggested the spending cap row has seen «extremely defamatory remarks» made about Red Bull on the weekend they could win a world championship. If results were to go Max Verstappen’s way this weekend he could emerge on Sunday at the Singapore Grand Prix as the 2022 world champion, his second consecutive triumph.

Ad However this weekend has seen a controversy emerge, with suggestions that Red Bull exceeded last season’s spending cap, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff claiming it was an «open secret» that two teams had gone beyond the limits. Singapore Grand PrixFP3: Leclerc quickest, Verstappen second fastest ahead of Singapore qualifyingAN HOUR AGO The Austrian team’s head, Horner, spoke to Sky Sports having previously denied that there were any problems with their accounts.

This time he hinted that there was a conspiracy to attack the team on the weekend of potential success. “Do you think that’s a coincidence, or do you think there might be a little bit of a campaign to discredit what the team has done?” he asked.

Horner insists Red Bull are 'not aware' of any budget cap breach FP3: Leclerc quickest, Verstappen second fastest ahead of Singapore qualifying Sainz quickest in Ferrari one-two at Singapore FP2 with Verstappen fourth “It’s somewhat suspicious timing and I think what confuses me — there’s been some extremely defamatory remarks — the submission between the teams and the FIA is a confidential one, so I have no idea what the status of any other camp is. “So how does he think he knows what our submission is? Our submission is fully compliant with the regulations, it has to be signed off by our auditors, which was done in March.” Singapore Grand Prix'Qualifying is important' — Leclerc