Christian Horner takes the McLaren feud to the next level with new allegations against Zak Brown | F1 | Sport

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has stepped up his feud with Zak Brown by accusing McLaren of changing the rear wings of their cars. It was the first blow for Horner and co on Friday during this weekend’s American Grand Prix, with Max Verstappen taking pole position in qualifying for the sprint race on Friday.

Title rival Lando Norris could only manage fourth place, a blow to his hopes of eating into the Dutchman’s 52-point lead in the drivers’ standings in Austin.

But the on-track action has so far been overshadowed by the ongoing feud between Horner and Brown, which has intensified amid their teams’ battle for both the drivers’ and constructors’ titles.

Since their arrival in America, Red Bull have been criticized as rivals after it emerged they had used a special ride height device to adjust the bibs of their cars under parc ferme conditions. Despite the FIA ​​claiming no rules were broken, McLaren is among the most vocal in questioning the lack of sanctions.

Asked about Brown and co’s comments, Horner suggested the British team were making noise to mask their own discrepancies. “I feel like sometimes it’s to distract from what might be going on in your own home, and then sometimes you’re trying to light a fire somewhere else,” he said. Air sports.

When asked “Are you saying there’s something unreliable going on with the McLaren?” the Englishman replied: “I mean, there’s an awful lot of noise about the rear wings, and McLaren had to replace theirs yesterday.”

At this point, Horner was corrected by his interviewer, but after being told, “They say that’s not the case,” he refused to back down. “Oh really?” he said. “Okay, I mean, it’s part of Formula 1, and I’m sure other things will happen between now and Abu Dhabi.”

Brown has since hit back, insisting that McLaren’s rear wing complies with regulations. “Absolutely,” said the American. “Our rear wings have passed every test. We’ve made some minor changes, as well as some others. So that is a non-issue.”

And in an attempt to put the pressure back on Red Bull, he argued that their ‘bib trick’ benefited the air tunnels on the floor of their vehicles. “I think if, and I say if, because I don’t know, it’s used inappropriately, then it’s certainly a performance benefit,” he said.

Tensions between Horner and Brown have been rising all season, with the latter regularly criticizing the internal scandal that has engulfed the reigning constructors’ champions. Following an investigation, Horner was cleared of inappropriate conduct towards a female employee, with the defendant’s appeal later dismissed.

During the investigation, Brown said: “McLaren holds itself and all the men and women at McLaren to the highest standards. It appears that Red Bull Corporation has started an investigation and all we hope and assume is that this will be handled in a very transparent manner, as the FIA ​​and Formula 1 have said.