Horner Hints at Foul Play from Mercedes F1 Amidst Their Puzzling Engine Gains

Red Bull have come out of the Turkish Grand Prix weekend delighted. They score a double podium finish on the track on which they were not as fast as their rival Mercedes. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner mentioned it looks like the Mercedes engine has gotten more powerful.

He had previously raised some concerns about how the German team had developed such a strong engine and had thus asked the FIA to look into Mercedes‘ engines.

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It’s surprising that Mercedes took such a step forward with the engine: Christian Horner

As reported by NextGen-Auto, the Red Bull team boss mentioned that he was surprised by the huge step that the German team had taken on the engine side. But he clarified they just asked questions about it to the FIA.

“I want to be clear. We didn’t protest, only asked questions, which all the teams are doing and not just Red Bull. It’s up to the FIA ​​to do the checks,” said Christian. (Translated via Google Translate)

“What I’m saying is it’s surprising that Mercedes took such a step forward with the engine. They clearly made progress in terms of speed in the straight line. In the beginning, we were able to compensate for that using less downforce, but now we’re really not getting close to it. 

“Obviously, they also have reliability issues this season and that’s unusual for Mercedes, but at the same time, they’re very fast. Maybe the two are related?” said Horner.

The Red Bull team boss hopes they could match Mercedes in Austin

Christian Horner hopes the team can match Mercedes’ engine power with their own at the US Grand Prix in Austin, but he did recognize the track as a Hamilton stronghold.

“Their top speed in a straight line is 15 to 20 km / h faster, all, as I said, with higher downforce,” Horner said.

“So we have to move forward in this area. Some of the next circuits might suit us more, but Austin is Hamilton’s preserve, so we will have to give our maximum,” concluded the Red Bull team boss.

The engine difference between the teams became apparent at Silverstone when Mercedes were the fastest team. Since then, the German team have had an upper hand on the engine side.

Do you agree with Horner? let us know.