Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has responded to calls from Ferrari and Mercedes to impose harsh sanctions on Red Bull following accusations that Red Bull Racing could violate financial restrictions in Formula 1.

Horner said: “I am frankly shocked by the announcements made by our competitors yesterday. All information and data provided by teams to the FIA ​​is confidential and I do not know what the nature of our competitors’ data is and what audit process it is subject to.”

He continued: “Therefore, I am amazed and thankful that I know the sources of those imaginary and false claims that they make. This is a slander against the Red Bull team and we will not accept it.”

He added: “Honestly, I don’t think that the existence of these messages due to Max Verstappen getting his first chance to win the World Championship in 2022 is a coincidence. How did they get this information? Where did they get this knowledge? Even the FIA ​​has confirmed that it has not yet completed the procedures.”

He continued: “Therefore, there must be a formal and clear withdrawal of all these statements, otherwise we will take them absolutely seriously and will work to evaluate all the options available to us. It is unacceptable to make such statements that we heard yesterday, this is a slander on the team, and on the brands, and on Formula 1 itself.”

Safwan Shami