Mercedes car concept to blame for porpoising, not 2022 rules, says Horner

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner believes Mercedes has only itself to blame for the porpoising issues it has faced, rather than pointing fingers at this year’s Formula 1 rules.

Mercedes went to Canada off the back of suffering severe bouncing during the Azerbaijan Grand Prix weekend, which left driver Lewis Hamilton in pain and needing recuperation before arriving in Montreal.

Following several complaints from drivers, the FIA acted by issuing a technical directive outlining how in planned to tackle the problem, but this has caused a divide amongst the teams.

Horner and Ferrari team principal Mattia Binotto were reported to have confronted Mercedes F1 chief Toto Wolff about exaggerating the team’s problems to try and push for a mid-season rule change.

Wolff was heavily critical of rival team bosses for putting politics ahead of driver safety, claiming they had been “pitiful” and “disingenuous” about the matter.

But Horner has a clear view that Mercedes’ issues have nothing to do with the 2022 regulations, stressing it is more down to it going the wrong way on its car concept.

Asked if the porpoising saga had become more political than safety conscious, Horner said, as quoted by Motorsport.com: “The issue with Mercedes is more severe, or certainly has been prior to [Canada] than any other car.

“That surely is down to the team. That’s within their control to deal with that, if it’s not affecting others.

“I know it was said other drivers have been complaining. Our drivers have never complained ever about porpoising. They’ve said certain circuits could do with tidying up, perhaps resurfacing in places.

“But we haven’t had an issue with bouncing. The problem is they’re running their car so stiff. I think their concept is