Christian Horner calls out Zak Brown letter while sitting next to him

Furious Christian Horner takes aim at ‘absolutely appalling’ accusations from Zak Brown in leaked letter to the FIA, as Red Bull chief responds to ‘cheating’ claims (and all while sitting next to his McLaren rival!)

• An FIA audit of 2021 accounts found that Red Bull committed a ‘minor breach’
• Christian Horner responded to a letter written by Zak Brown saying the team has ‘been on trial since Singapore’ and that the accusations have been ‘damaging’
• Brown clarified his letter saying he ‘didn’t mention any teams’ and was general
• Click here for all your latest international Sports news from DailyMail.com 

Christian Horner issued a furious defense of his Red Bull team and hit back at Zak Brown at a bombshell Formula One press conference on Saturday – all while sitting alongside his McLaren rival.

Red Bull – and its chief Horner – have been the subject of huge criticism in the last few weeks after they were found to have been in breach of F1’s £114million cost cap.

Horner’s emotionally charged rant against Brown ahead of the United States Grand Prix in Austin was in response to a letter the McLaren CEO wrote to the FIA last week saying this breach ‘constitutes cheating’. 

During the tirade, the Red Bull boss laid into Brown, all while sitting next to him, and all the other competing bosses who believe the team should be punished.

Red Bull boss Christian Horner addressed a letter written by McLaren CEO Zak Brown Saturday

While sitting next to the McLaren leader, Horner said Brown’s accusations are ‘damaging’

‘It’s tremendously disappointing for a fellow competitor to be accusing you of cheating; to accuse you of fraudulent activity is shocking. It’s absolutely shocking that another competitor without the facts, without any knowledge of the details, can be making that kind of accusation.

‘We’ve been on trial because of public accusations since Singapore; the rhetoric of cheats, the rhetoric that we’ve had this enormous benefit.

‘Numbers have been put out in the media that are miles out of reality.

‘And the damage that that does to the brand, to our partners, to our drivers, to our workforce. You know, in an age where mental health is prevalent, we’re seeing significant issues in our workforce.

‘We’re getting kids that are being bullied in playgrounds that are employees’ children…

‘You cannot go round just making that kind of allegation without any fact or substance, so we absolutely are appalled at the behavior of some of our competitors.’

Brown said the letter was ‘a general response’, calrifying that it ‘didn’t mention any teams’

In response to Horner, Brown clarified the position he took in the letter and said he didn’t call out Red Bull specifically.

‘My letter set out that I think, if a team spends more than the cap they are going to get an advantage, and the cap is a rule, no different to the technical rules in the sport’, Brown replied.

‘We are not taking a view whether they did or didn’t, my letter was ‘if someone has, then here are the things that we think should be addressed’ no different than if a ride height is incorrect or a flexi wing or whatever the case may be.

‘It didn’t mention any teams. It was a general response, now that we are into the cost cap era, if someone breaches that, here’s what we think some of the ramifications are.’

An audit from the FIA of the 2021 accounts found that Red Bull committed a ‘minor breach’

After an audit of the accounts of all ten teams for the 2021 season, the FIA found that Red Bull committed a ‘minor breach’ of the cost cap of $145million set last year.

Reports from Sky Sports say the breach amounted to around $1.8m in excess.  Despite these reports saying they went over, Horner believes the team did not see a benefit from said overspending.

‘We’ve been tried and subjected to three weeks of effective abuse,’ he said. ‘It’s just not right. This has to stop.

‘You’ve got to look at the relevant costs [within the cap] what’s in the costs and what is out. Our view is that our relevant costs are within the costs. We are in discussions with the FIA about what the costs are and what are mitigating potential circumstances.’

Source: Read Full Article