Red Bull U-turn as Christian Horner retracts Mercedes ‘illegal wings’ claim

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has performed an apparent U-turn by retracting his claim that Lewis Hamilton’s new Mercedes is illegal.

Hamilton’s Mercedes team are running a radically revised machine for the final test in Bahrain before next Sunday’s season opener in the Gulf Kingdom.

The focus is on the Silver Arrows’ virtually non-existent sidepods, designed to provide greater airflow, improving downforce, and effectively making the car go faster.

In an interview with German publication Auto Motor und Sport on Thursday, Horner said: “From our point of view, Mercedes went a step too far.

“That doesn’t correspond to the spirit of the regulations. For us, these wings are illegal.”

But speaking 24 hours later, Horner denied that he suggested Mercedes had bent the rules.

“Comments have been quoted that certainly were not made,” said Horner.

“Obviously Mercedes have come up with an extreme and different interpretation but to answer whether we think it is legal or not – yes, absolutely. It looks like it ticks all the boxes.

“As far as we are concerned, the Mercedes car looks as though it complies with the regulations.”

While Horner’s comments would appear to rule out a Red Bull protest, Hamilton’s Mercedes could yet be outlawed if eight of the grid’s 10 teams – the so-called super majority – believe the concept is not within the spirit of the revamped regulations.

However, Horner added: “There is not really anything that defines the spirit of the regulations.

“It either complies or it doesn’t and it not really for us to judge. The FIA has access to all of the drawings, and a design like that would surely have been submitted to them in advance.”

Away from the noise surrounding Mercedes’ new sidepods, Ferrari have