Horner fears 2019 rules will lead to 'more gaps' between teams

Christian Horner fears that Formula 1's aero tweaks for 2019 won't lead to closer racing, the Red Bull Racing boss reiterating his belief that the sport was wrong to rush through the changes.

In a bid to facilitate overtaking and promote closer racing, F1 will introduce new aero package that will include a less sophisticated front-wing design, simplified front brake ducts with no winglets and a wider, deeper rear wing.

Horner is giving the changes the benefit of the doubt, for now, but warns they could fall short of their intended purpose as a diverse set of interpretations from the teams could lead to bigger performance gaps.

• New 2019 aero rules will follow trial and error approach

As far as the Red Bull Racing boss is concerned, a better path to tightening up the field would have been to preserve stability and leave the rules unchanged.

"It’s a significant change. One thing affects another and obviously it’s been a very costly change,” said Horner.

"Would it affect the ability for the cars to follow closely? Maybe a little but not tangibly so.

"Inevitably somebody will get it right, some teams will get it wrong. If anything, more gaps between the teams [will occur].

"The best way to achieve close grid is stability and then the teams will concertina and converge."

F1 sporting manager Ross Brawn views next year's changes as a "snapshot" of 2021, a first phase destined to validate the regulation overhaul that will take place in the future.

But Horner believes the approach was rushed, mainly thanks to the support it received from Mercedes and Ferrari.

"Unfortunately there was some elements of a research project that Ross has been working on that have been cherry-picked by the FIA for application for next year," he said.

"Unfortunately Mercedes and Ferrari supported it through the strategy group and it got voted through.

"I think probably with hindsight all the teams would recognise now that perhaps it wasn’t the right thing to rush through but let’s reserve judgement until we see the first four or five races next year."

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