Horner slams 2019 F1 rule changes

Red Bull boss Christian Horner has laid into the 2019 Formula 1 regulations changes which were passed during the build-up to the Spanish Grand Prix and criticises the sport for “shooting itself in the foot”.

Horner has been the first high-profile figure to publicly slam the 2019 rule tweaks which will see simpler front wings and front brake ducts plus wider and larger rear wings with the goal of making F1 cars easier to follow closely and therefore provide more overtaking opportunities.

The Red Bull chief feels the regulation alterations have been a rushed decision based off plans afoot for the 2021 rules shake-up and feels the changes “completely conflict” with the current F1 cars. Horner also says teams will take the burden of the tweaks by having to spend “millions and millions” to redevelop next year’s concepts.

“Sometimes this sport has the ability to shoot itself in the foot,” Horner told Sky Sports F1. “The work that has been done for 2021 is all good stuff the problem is a snapshot of that has been taken and hasn’t been fully analysed and there are no proven conclusions from it.

“It has then been rushed into a set of regulations that completely conflict with existing regulations so they are now scrapping around trying to sort that out this weekend. It completely changes the philosophy of the car because the front wing will be wider and different.

“The point that the air meets the air is the front wing and that then changes everything behind it: the suspension, the bodywork, absolutely every single component. We talk about costs and being responsible but what has just been introduced is a completely new concept which will cost millions and millions of pounds.

“It was rushed after Melbourne because there was not a lot of overtaking, when has there ever been a lot of overtaking in Melbourne, and then we’ve had three great races since then.”

Horner feels alterations to circuits should have become the area of focus to improve racing having felt the past three races in Bahrain, China and Azerbaijan have all producing exciting action after the initial fears from Australia.

“Shouldn’t we be looking at the tracks and the tyre compounds and how they influence races rather than burdening the teams with what will be hundreds of millions in costs,” he said. “If you look at the nature of the circuits, long straights with big stops and hairpins like China, Baku and Bahrain they were all good races. Those types of circuits always produce good races.

“This will probably be a boring race on Sunday [in Spain] because this track even with the slowest corner into the hairpin is still pretty quick and you’ve got a fast corner going into it.

“I find it frustrating that decisions are made on zero evidence or zero conclusions on theories and the burden of costs are passed on to the teams. Is it going to guarantee closer racing, and cars following closer next year, probably not.”

The 2019 rule changes were voted through by the F1 Commission last week which is believed to have split opinions but any proposals require a majority decision rather than unanimous backing.