Christian Horner calls out Mercedes and Toto Wolff over rule changes | F1 | Sports

Christian Horner has suggested Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is lobbying officials to change the rules for next season to gain a performance advantage. The FIA ​​said they will look at introducing new technical changes for 2023 to reduce bouncing issues for drivers.

It is understood the new rules will raise the car’s floor edges by 25mm which will affect the car’s aerodynamics. A new lateral floor deflection test is also set to come into effect to ensure drivers’ safety at all times.

However, the Red Bull boss has revealed the new package will “completely change” the philosophy of next year’s cars. He then appeared to openly attack Wolff, suggesting there was a push for rules changes for one team so it can “benefit” from the concept.

Wolff has openly called for rules changes this season since the Silver Arrows have been one of the worst affected teams by the porpoising issues.

Horner explained: “I think there’s an awful lot of lobbying to change regulations significantly for next year, lifting [the side of the floor] so a certain team can run its car lower and benefit from that concept.

READ MORE: Christian Horner hits out at ‘totally rubbish’ Toto Wolff claim

“It’s a very late point in the year to be doing this. I think the president’s doing the right thing, he’s collating all the information, and hopefully a sensitive solution can be found because it’s too late in the day for fundamental regulation changes, which something like that would be.”

Wolff has openly called for regulation changes after Lewis Hamilton suffered severe back pain at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The FIA ​​will bring in an oscillation measurement as a short-term fix at the Belgian Grand Prix but Wolff has suggested this was not soon enough.

The new rules also stop teams from taking advantage of flexible floors during a race to gain speed. Speaking ahead of the French Grand Prix, the Austrian team principal stressed changes should have come into effect “three races ago” instead of a delay.

DON’T MISS
Red Bull and Mercedes hit out at new FIA rules coming into effect [INSIGHT]
Max Verstappen to suffer blow as FIA clamp down on rules [ANALYSIS]
Horner and Wolff form rare alliance after fans turn on Verstappen [COMMENT]

Wolff told Sky Sports F1: “There is no such thing as a magic bullet – unless you speak of a double diffuser – and it is not going to make a big difference. They will need to run the car probably on the front, the bib, a little bit higher than they used to be.

“This TD should have been brought into place once it was discovered three races ago, so the argument of ‘Is it fair to have brought it into the middle of the season?’ is the wrong one. It should have been introduced as soon as it was discovered because it was clearly much more than a loophole.”