Christian Horner says there is ‘campaign to discredit Red Bull’ and threatens legal action
Angry Red Bull boss Christian Horner has claimed there is a concerted attempt to discredit his team as Max Verstappen closes in on a second successive F1 title.
Reports that Red Bull have breached the sport’s recently introduced budget cap is the dominant topic at this weekend’s Singapore Grand Prix. While that has not been officially confirmed, speculation is rife that Red Bull is in hot water with the sport’s governing body, the FIA.
If found guilty, potential penalties depend on the severity of the breach. It has been suggested that Max Verstappen could even be stripped of his maiden F1 title, won in such contentious fashion last season. The picture is expected to become clear in the middle of next week when the FIA certifies the teams which have complied with the financial regulations.
READ MORE: Toto Wolff makes Christian Horner jibe amid claims Red Bull have breached F1 cost cap
Horner is adamant Red Bull have acted within the rules and believes the speculation is part of a campaign against the Milton Keynes-based team.
“Do you think that’s a coincidence? Or do we think there might be a little bit of a campaign to discredit what the team has done? It’s somewhat suspicious timing,” he told Sky Sports F1 ahead of final practice in Singapore.
“The thing that confuses me is that there have been some extremely defamatory remarks that have been made [by rival team bosses]. The submission between the teams and the FIA is a confidential one so I have no idea what the status of any other team’s cap is.”
When reminded of Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff’s claim that it is an “open secret” that Red Bull is one of the teams in breach, he added: “Then I would love to know what his source is. I have no idea on the condition of Mercedes’ submission, or Ferrari’s submission.
What should be the punishment if a team is found to have breached the budget cap. Tell us in the comments section.
(Image: Sky Sports F1/Twitter)
“One has to ask, where has that information [come from], or how does he think he knows what our submission is? We believe our submission is fully compliant with the regulations.”
In the team principals’ press conference, Horner suggested that Red Bull could take legal action, saying: “Unless there is a clear withdrawal of those statements, we will be taking it incredibly seriously and looking at the what the options available to us are because it is absolutely unacceptable to be making comments of the type that were made yesterday.
“It’s totally defamatory to the team, to the brands and even to Formula 1 and I’d be intrigued to know where their source of information has come from.”
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