Horner doesn't buy into Hamilton's 'diving': 'Homework not done right'

Christian Horner doesn't believe Lewis Hamilton is really hurting his back that much. The Red Bull Racing team boss compares Hamilton's action to a "Schwalbe" in football and hopes that Mercedes will not get its way with the FIA.

Mercedes was all about one thing throughout the Grand Prix weekend in Azerbaijan: porpoising. Toto Wolff, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell each spoke out in interviews. It would be unsafe for the drivers, Russell stated that there would be major accidents due to porpoising, and Wolff announced that all drivers (except Fernando Alonso) had stated that porpoising was a problem that needed to be solved.

Act of Hamilton

Mercedes' goal was to get everyone convinced that there must be a solution. The regulations need to be changed, but not everyone agrees. Eight out of ten teams have to vote for a rule change and that didn't work. Mercedes still hopes to get that done, because the team is particularly bothered by it.

Horner already let it be known that he does not feel sorry for Mercedes. According to the Brit, Mercedes can solve this problem by setting the car higher, but Mercedes will not do this because they will be slower. So the German racing team takes care of the problem itself and makes a big show around it. So does Hamilton.

Horner understands Mercedes

''If I wanted the rules changed, I would also start 'bitching' over the team radio and make a very big thing out of it. It's all part of the game. You can compare it to a footballer who goes down in the penalty area and would like a penalty,'' Horner said according to the NOS after the race.

Mercedes hopes in this way to force a change in the rules by playing the 'safety card', but Horner is not buying it and hopes that the FIA will not do so either. ''I wouldn't think that would be fair. If all teams have problems then it would be fair, but if you were to change the rules now, then you reward some teams that didn't do their homework properly. That feels unfair to teams that did a good job'', concludes the team boss of Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.