Red Bull deny Horner made comments about W13

Mark Scott
Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes W13. Bahrain March 2022

Lewis Hamilton in the Mercedes W13. Bahrain March 2022

The plot thickens…Red Bull has denied Christian Horner has made any early comments about the new Mercedes W13.

Not for the first time in pre-season testing, Mercedes have got heads turning in the paddock with a revolutionary new car.

Rumours emerged earlier in the week that the Silver Arrows were ready to unveil a sidepod-less W13 in Bahrain and, on Thursday, those rumours were proved to be true.

Sky Sports pundit and analyst Martin Brundle likened the new W13 bodywork as “a bar of chocolate that has been left out in the sun and melted”, adding “such is the bodywork wrapping around what must be a very creative cooling system on the car.”

During the first hour of pre-season testing in Bahrain, there appeared to be comment from Horner to a usually very credible media outlet in Auto Motor und Sport.

“The new Mercedes violates the spirit of the regulations,” Horner was reported to have said.

“For us, there are some parts that are not legal.”

But, Red Bull has since issued a short statement to deny those comments were made.

It read: “Please note, Christian has not spoken with any media or made any comments about the Mercedes car.”

As for the Red Bull RB18, it does not look a whole lot different from the car they unveiled back at the unofficial test in Barcelona a couple of weeks ago.

However, some substantial upgrades are reportedly in the works and are set to be implemented over days two and three of the Bahrain test.

The same plan is reportedly in place at McLaren, as they look to try and force themselves into the title picture alongside Ferrari.

 

PlanetF1 Verdict

 

Red Bull deny Horner made Mercedes comments

Red Bull have denied that Christian Horner made comments surrounding the W13.