Christian Horner poked fun at Aston Martin as he suggested his Red Bull team may copy their innovative new rear wing design.
The Silverstone team caused a stir in the paddock as they arrived in Budapest with their new design. Fresh for the Hungarian Grand Prix, they have debuted their 'armchair' rear wing for drivers Sebastian Vettel and Lance Stroll to use.
They have decided to add small pieces of carbon fibre at each end of the wing to make it a little bit more like last season's design, which had end plates. By doing so, Aston hope to increase downforce and make it harder for other cars to follow closely for too long.
Sky Sports F1 presenter Ted Kravitz appeared particularly enamoured with the idea as he had a good look at the change. He said he "absolutely loves" the innovative idea and said it could be "potentially game-changing" if the rules allow it to be used.
Horner was asked for his views on the design, and couldn't help but make a point about copying. Earlier in the season Aston Martin were accused of redesigning their car and basing their new design on how the Red Bull cars look, though the FIA were happy that there was no wrongdoing on that occasion.
"I guess if it complies with the regs, that's the main thing," said Horner of Aston's new rear wing. "It opens up another avenue, which is interesting. Maybe for once we will copy something off an Aston Martin rather than the other way around, so you never know."
Any bold new designs always risk incurring the wrath of the sport's lawmakers, but Aston chief Mike Krack is confident the new wing will be allowed. Perhaps playing it safe just in case, he tried to play down the effect it might have on the performance of his team's cars.
"We were in touch with the FIA all along the development to understand if this was something that could be accepted, and it finally was," he said. "That for us was the moment when we said 'we'll go for it'.
"It's nothing special, at the end of the day. It's an interpretation of the rules. We developed the wing according to that, in conjunction with the FIA, and that's that. I'm not concerned about a super-majority or anything – if the rules change and these kinds of designs are not allowed, we will cope with it."
