Horner: Red Bull at disadvantage
Saturday 9th July 2011
Red Bull Racing team principal Christian Horner has agreed to run at a potential disadvantage this weekend.
The concession is to alleviate a technical debate that has made a mockery of Formula One.
The row emerged Friday when Horner and McLaren counterpart Martin Whitmarsh went to head in head in the team principal press conference.
The furore continued this morning and resulted in an extraordinary meeting of the Technical Working Group at Silverstone, sandwiched in between final practice and qualifying, to resolve the matter.
FIA technical director Charlie Whiting had earlier made it clear the minutiae surrounding the ban on off-throttle blown diffusers and the use of exhaust gases - imposed after the European Grand Prix in Valencia two weeks ago - would stand.
Horner, although far from happy, has agreed to accept the change for now, but has demanded clarity from the German Grand Prix onwards.
"We're trying to find a solution," said Horner.
"It's in nobody's interest to have the lack of clarity that currently exists.
"Charlie made an offer. Red Bull has also offered a concession this weekend to run as we are.
"Obviously we need all the teams to agree to move on and put this behind us, which we're hopefully not far from achieving.
"At the moment, in our opinion, we are running at a disadvantage to some of the other engine manufacturers.
"But we're trying to find a solution which is clear moving forward to put this behind us.
"The most simplistic thing would be to move back to exactly where we were two weeks ago."
The imposition of the initial regulation change favoured Mercedes-powered teams, prompting a response from Renault, who are behind Red Bull.
Whiting agreed to concessions on their behalf, only to backtrack on Saturday and revert to the original ruling, prompting showdown talks with Horner and design guru Adrian Newey as the final hour of practice unfolded.
That led to the TWG meeting and Whiting's insistence there would be no last-second change, at least not as qualifying approached.
For the viewing public and the thousands in the grandstands this weekend, it is all a mystery as the furore surrounds a device that cannot be seen.
In effect, Red Bull are not allowed to use as much off-throttle exhaust gas over their diffuser - that would increase downforce and so aid performance - as they had argued for.
Whiting had agreed to allow them 50%, however, that has dropped to the initial settings of 20% when the engine is running at its maximum of 18,000rpm, and 10% when at 12,000rpm.
Credit: ESPN STAR (www.espnstar.com)
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