Christian Horner has fired back at Lewis Hamilton and George Russell after facing criticism at the Hungarian Grand Prix. The Red Bull boss called out Mercedes performances as a reason behind the attacks after both Silver Arrows stars suggested the team’s budget cap penalty was insufficient.
However, Horner hit back at the remarks as he admitted Red Bull had faced a massive handicap in 2023. He told Sky Sports F1: “Believe me the hit we’ve taken with the lack of wind tunnel time compared to our competitors is a massive compromise.
“If wind tunnels don’t count, why don’t we just get rid of them? It’s easy to throw shade when you’re not performing. It’s one of the things in Formula One that will always continue to happen.
“I’m just incredibly proud of the job our teams are doing with the constraints and the handicap we have.”
Red Bull were hit with a £5.4million fine and a 10 per cent reduction in wind tunnel development after they exceeded the 2021 spending limits. However, the punishment has had little impact on the squad’s on-track performance with Max Verstappen dominating the championship last season.
Red Bull have won every race so far this year with Verstappen enjoying a 99 point lead over Sergio Perez. Earlier this week, reports suggested that as many as three teams may have breached the 2022 financial limits.
Hamilton quickly weighed in on the issue, before firing a pointed dig at rulesmakers for dishing out a minor penalty to Red Bull Red Bull last year. He explained: “It’s definitely a concern. I mean, there wasn’t really a big punishment last time.
“There will be people that will probably go for it again and know they’re just going to get a slap on the wrist.” F1 boss Stefano Domenicali has piled the pressure on the FIA to avoid a repeat of last year.
The Italian has demanded that any constructors who break the rules are handed sporting sanctions. Hamilton’s team-mate George Russell agreed as he called on officials to throw the book at anyone in breach.
He even suggested Red Bull should be hit with a bigger penalty if they are found out for a second successive season. Russell commented: “If anybody has breached any regulation you want the punishment to represent the crime. There were breaches last year and clearly the punishment didn’t fit the crime
“We don’t want to be seeing that happen again and if it’s a second-time offender the punishment should be even greater than what perhaps is a fair punishment if its happened two years in a row.”
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