Horner wants F1 rule change for ‘third car’ breaches
Sergio Perez was required to start the Qatar Grand Prix from the pit lane after his Red Bull team were found to have worked on his car while parc ferme restrictions were in place.
The Mexican was involved in a three-car collision with Esteban Ocon and Nico Hulkenberg in the sprint race which caused substantial damage to his RB19.
As such, Red Bull were forced to rebuild the chassis to a point that exceeded what is permitted in the regulations.
It led to Qatar being the second race in a row where a driver was forced into a pitlane start due to their team effectively building a ‘third car’.
At the previous round in Japan, Williams driver Logan Sargeant was required to start from the pitlane as a result of extensive repairs carried out to his car following a heavy crash in qualifying.
Horner reckons F1 teams should lobby the FIA to revise the regulations.
“I think it's something that team managers need to look at, something a bit more sensible, because now for two weeks with Williams and ourselves, it has been far from ideal.”
Horner insisted there was “no chance” Red Bull could have built up the car without breaching the sporting regulations.
“With the damage to the crash structure and so on, that would have been impossible,” he added. “They did a phenomenal job to turn it all around.”
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