Christian Horner slams Mercedes for budget-exhausting Monaco upgrades, claims Lewis Hamilton’s team won’t be able to bring in more upgrades in 2023

Christian Horner took a shot at Mercedes for draining its 2023 budget with the Monaco upgrade package.

Christian Horner slams Mercedes for budget-exhausting Monaco upgrades, claims Lewis Hamilton’s team won’t be able to bring in more upgrades in 2023

Christian Horner, image via SBnation, Lewis Hamilton, image via CNN

The Mercedes F1 team has tried to get back on track after a disastrous start to the new era of ground-effect regulations. The Silver Arrows finally adopted a new design philosophy for the W14 with a significant upgrade package at Monaco. Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner reckons this package might have consumed enough of the cost cap to prevent the Silver Arrows from further upgrades in 2023.

Mercedes has improved substantially since it introduced the new package on the W14. The Brackley-based team even secured its first double podium finish of this season at the Spanish GP. Horner acknowledged that the Silver Arrows had made progress with its latest set of upgrades as Toto Wolff‘s team is finally closing its gap to Milton Keynes.

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However, such a big update package comes at a high cost, especially during the era of the F1 cost cap. Christian believed that the Monaco upgrades could have taken too much out of the team’s budget for this season. He said, “They brought a B car [in Monaco], so they must have used a large part of their development budget for it”. This could leave no room for the Silver Arrows to introduce new upgrades for the rest of the season.

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Christian Horner intrigued by the shuffling pecking order behind Red Bull

Christian Horner, image via GPfans.com
Christian Horner, image via GPfans.com

The 49-year-old remarked on how Red Bull has dominated the pack since the start of the 2023 season. Yet, its rivals behind have been moving in the pecking order. Aston Martin’s Fernando Alonso was the biggest threat to Max Verstappen for the race win at Monaco. But it was Lewis Hamilton challenging the Dutchman for the lead in Spain.

Christian Horner was looking forward to how the grid continues to shake up over the remainder of the season. The Briton seems unbothered by the upgrades brought in by Mercedes and other rivals as Red Bull still maintains a massive pace advantage. The Milton Keynes-based team will be working round the clock to solidify its dominance further.

Thus, Christian Horner has hit out at Mercedes for putting a large chunk of its budget on the Monaco upgrades. The 49-year-old is convinced that the Brackley-based team might be forced to race for the rest of the season without any more updates. However, it remains to be seen if the Red Bull team boss is correct or if Toto Wolff’s team has an ace up its sleeves.

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