Christian Horner has private talks with FIA president amid Mercedes ‘illegal’ car row

Russell excited to get started with Mercedes

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has had private talks with FIA President Mohammed bin Sulayem ahead of the 2022 Formula One season – and has opened up on what he makes of Mercedes’ new vehicle for the upcoming campaign after claiming some parts were ‘not legal’.

Teams have been forced to change their cars under new regulations for 2022, which has led to some interesting results in pre-season.

Ferrari and McLaren posted superb times in Barcelona testing, whilst Mercedes initially failed to keep up with the newfound pacesetters in their bid to claim a first Constructors’ Championship since 2008 and 1998 respectively.

With Red Bull’s Sergio Perez encountering problems in Barcelona, Horner has had a lot to mull over in his spell at the Austrian-based outfit.

After Mercedes’ second outing in testing proved to be a lot smoother, he called their new car ‘illegal’.

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And he backed those statements up when speaking according to GPBlog.

“Mercedes? I can’t say, it’s a very different and innovative concept, but we have to wait,” Horner said.

“A lot of teams will bring new things to the first race.”

Horner then detailed his discussion with Bin Sulayem.

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He became president of the FIA shortly after Max Verstappen’s contentious win over Lewis Hamilton on the final day of the 2021 season.

Michael Masi ordered the cars in between Hamilton and Verstappen to be unlapped by the Dutchman, giving him a clear advantage to overtake the Brit.

His decision in the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix was heavily criticised as it allowed Verstappen to effectively win the title in the most controversial circumstances.

One of the first decisions the Emirati made was to relieve Masi of his duties.

And Horner shared his sympathy for the Australian after he was demoted for his perceived ‘wrongdoing’.

“I’m very sorry to hear about Masi’s fate, it’s been tough for him,” he continued.

“What did he say to me? He has a lot of experience in rallying and is trying to understand how the F1 world moves. He has a different approach to [former president Jean] Todt.”

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