Mercedes sabotaging Red Bull with 2019 decision - Marko

Red Bull chief Dr Helmut Marko has accused Mercedes of trying to sabotage his team's development by pushing through aerodynamic rule changes for the 2019 season. Formula 1 has controversially altered new front-wing designs for next year in an attempt to boost overtaking.

Big-name drivers including Lewis Hamilton, Sebastian Vettel and Daniel Ricciardo have spoken out against the plans, which are expected to make cars over one second per lap slower.

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Red Bull are clearly against the proposals, which team boss Christian Horner has said is evidence of F1 "shooting itself in the foot".

As Mercedes power-unit advantage continues to decline - Ferrari have effectively closed the gap in 2018, with the Renault-powered Red Bull not far behind - Marko says the Silver Arrows are only out to protect their best interests by forcing another costly aero rethink.

"Mercedes wanted the new rules because they're at the end with their aerodynamic concept," Marko told Auto Motor und Sport.

"They want to start from scratch because it hurts us."

Red Bull have made no secret of their fury about the changes for next year, and Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says it has brought a never-before-seen side out of his opposite number at Milton Keynes, Horner.

"I haven't seen him that livid," Wolff told Sky Sports.

"It seems to be upsetting them massively. I don't know why, for us it was a 50-50 decision.

"We wanted to be supportive of the work that's been done and the direction looks correct."