Red Bull "bendy" wing legal insists Horner after Hamilton remark

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has stated categorically the RB16B does not contravene Formula 1 regulations after Lewis Hamilton commented on the flexing of the rear wing.

After qualifying on Saturday, Hamilton said Red Bull "have this bendy wing on the back of their car" which he believed would yield around three-tenths of lap time in a straight line.

Questioned on this after Max Verstappen finished second to Hamilton in the Spanish Grand Prix, Horner refuted any suggestion his team's car may feature an illegal component.

“I saw the comment," he said. "Of course, the car is scrutineered thoroughly and there is pull back tests and all kinds of tests it has to pass.

"The FIA is completely happy with the car, that it has passed all of those tests that are pretty stringent.

“I was surprised to see his comments on that but it is something Toto has mentioned to me previously so I doubt it was Lewis’ opinion. It probably came from elsewhere.”

The inference from Horner being that Wolff had primed Hamilton to comment on it.

Asked to respond to Horner's words, Wolff said: "It’s good fun. We discussed it, but everybody’s…let me not comment."

Heading into the season, Red Bull had appeared to be the team to beat with Mercedes struggling.

But after four races the positions have been reversed, with Red Bull playing catchup as the team trails Mercedes by 29 points in the constructors' standings.

“Testing was a three-day test and, of course, Mercedes didn’t show its true potential at that test and from Bahrain they have been right there, particularly on race pace," added Horner.

“Of course, it is going to be about developing and developing efficiently, developing within the constraints of obviously designing a new car for next year as well so that poses its own challenge and, of course, a 23-race calendar is a marathon season.

“We need to make sure that we’re there for the second half as that has generally been where we have been stronger.”

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