With reports coming in that Aston Martin might launch legal action against F1’s aerodynamic rule changes, three rival team bosses have hit back on the prospect.
Aston Martin boss Otmar Szafnauer believes that the changes were introduced to tackle Mercedes dominating the sport. But they impacted the other ‘low rake’ cars as well.
“I’m not a conspiracy theorist, but it was made clear by all of us with low rake that the changes would have a greater effect on us. And so it happened,” he said.
“As a team we have to work hard to claw back everything we can, but at the same time we should be having the discussions with the FIA to see if anything can be done to make it a bit more equitable.”
When questioned about if there will be legal action, Szafnauer revealed that he believes that the rule changes were instigated by Liberty Media and not the rule-making FIA.
“I think we will get to that point after the discussion (with the FIA),” Szafnauer said. “It’s hard to predict but I think the right thing to do is to see what can be done.”
Red Bull’s Christian Horner hit back at Szafnauer and called him “a little naive” to actually believe that rules will be altered “after the process was fully followed”.
“I’m struggling to get my head around that,” he added.
Alpha Tauri chief Franz Tost also agreed to this, adding that the rules cannot be changed mid-season.
“Everyone agreed to the rules – they weren’t made overnight.
“Everyone has to come to terms with the rules and the new tyres,” he told f1-insider.com. “Some did a good job, some didn’t. It has always been like this.
“As for the disadvantage for Mercedes – they won the first race. So, unlike Aston Martin, they seem to be getting along quite well with the new rules.”
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