"I have no idea" - Red Bull's Christian Horner dismisses questions on upsetting Mercedes off-track

Red Bull's Christian Horner has dismissed questions of negatively affecting Mercedes by 'poaching' their technical personnel in 2022. The Briton made it very clear that the team had not intentionally tried upsetting the German team's functioning.

Since ending their term with Honda, the Milton-Keynes-based team has been on a hiring spree. The Austrian team has taken several technical personnel from Mercedes in particular, raising questions about their intentions. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, however, has denied any such allegations, claiming the team has no intentions of upsetting the German team off track.

Claiming that he had no idea why Mercedes power was not at its best in 2022, the Briton said:

“I have no idea. We’re looking to bring in the best people, and we’ve recruited people from Mercedes, from all the other [F1 engine] manufacturers, as well as many manufacturers outside of Formula 1. What we’re really focused on here is a real hub of technical excellence, both on the chassis and the power unit side, and seeing that come together and facilities like that [all] helps.”

Among its major signings, Red Bull brought in Ben Hodgkinson, who was Head of Mechanical Engineering at Mercedes High Performance Powertrains (HPP), as Technical Director of their own Powertrains program. The Austrian outfit had also signed Mercedes chief engineer Owen Jones.

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Red Bull's Helmut Marko cites E10 fuel as possible cause for Mercedes' lack of form

Red Bull's Helmut Marko claims the newly introduced E10 fuel might be a cause of Mercedes' loss of competitiveness. The Austrian also claims the German team cannot rely solely on their power unit in 2022, causing them to fall down the grid order.

The German team has been the most dominant team by a big margin in the turbo-hybrid era, having won the constructors' trophy every year since 2013. The Silver Arrows, however, have been off the pace in 2022, due to the infamous porpoising problem which has plagued the W13. Austrian motorsport veteran Helmut Marko claims the reason could be due to the new E10 fuel that was introduced this season.

Speaking to Motorsport.com, he said:

“I can't say exactly, but I think there is a link. It is a logical explanation, personally I believe that everything is related to the new gasoline".

Marko added about Mercedes' form at the moment, saying:

“The hybrid era was conditioned by the superiority of their power unit - he explained - initially I think they were two seconds faster but they kept it all hidden. Today the differences between the engines are not that great, and Mercedes-powered teams can no longer turn a knob and solve their problems."

With Mercedes expected to bring upgrades in the coming weeks, fans of the Silver Arrows can continue to keep their hopes up for Lewis Hamilton and George Russell in 2022.