“You’ve got to be pushing the envelope,” says former Red Bull boss, Christian Horner when asked about the ongoing cheat claims.
Despite the hyperbole over the new rules, it is feared that the opening race(s) could be overshadowed by protests as rivals continue to question the legality of the Red Bull and Mercedes power units.
Speaking in Australia, Horner, who helped persuade Red Bull’s owner, Dietrich Mateschitz to take another enormous gamble and go into the business of providing his own engines, defended his former team.
“Formula 1 is about pushing the boundaries,” he said. “It’s about how you interpret regulations, it always has been and always will be.
“Teams that are the most conservative are the teams that are never at the front of the grid,” he added, “you’ve got to be pushing the envelope.”
Asked outright if Red Bull and Mercedes were cheating, he replied: “That’s a big statement.
“Of course, it’s all about how you interpret regulations,” he explained, “and engineers, some of the brightest engineers on the planet, will be looking at those regulations and thinking: ‘Okay, how can I maximise performance?’.”