Christian Horner challenges Mercedes and Toto Wolff over rule changes

Christian Horner has suggested Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is pressuring officials to change the rules for next season to gain a performance advantage. The FIA ​​said it would consider introducing further technical changes for 2023 to reduce rebound issues for drivers.

It is understood that the new rules will increase the edges of the floor of the car by 25mm, which will affect the aerodynamics of the car. A new lateral floor deflection test is also to come into effect to ensure driver safety at all times.

However, the Red Bull boss has revealed that the new package will "completely change" the philosophy of next year's cars. He then appeared to openly attack Wolff, suggesting there was pressure to change a team's rules so they could "benefit" from the concept.

Wolff has openly called for rule changes this season as the Silver Arrows have been one of the teams most affected by porpoising issues.

Horner explained: "I think there's a lot of lobbying to change the regulations significantly for next year, raising [the side of the ground] so that a certain team can run their car below and benefit from this concept.

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"It's a very late time in the year to do this. I think the president is doing the right thing, he's gathering all the information, and I hope a sensible solution can be found because it's too late in the day for fundamental regulatory changes, which would be something like this."

Wolff has openly called for rule changes after Lewis Hamilton suffered severe back pain at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix. The FIA ​​will bring a wobble measure as a short-term solution to the Belgian Grand Prix, but Wolff suggested it wasn't soon enough.

The new rules also prevent teams from taking advantage of flexible floors during a race to gain speed. Speaking ahead of the French Grand Prix, the Austrian team principal pointed out that the changes should have come into effect "three races ago" instead of a deadline.

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Wolff told Sky Sports F1: "There's no silver bullet - unless you're talking about a dual diffuser - and it won't make a big difference. They'll have to run the car probably at the front, the bib, a little higher than before.

"This TD should have been implemented once it was discovered three races ago, so the argument 'Is it fair to have it implemented in the middle of the season?' is the bad one. It should have been introduced as soon as it was discovered because it was clearly much more than a loophole."