Horner sees upgrades Mercedes: 'Spent a significant part of their budget'

Mercedes has brought a huge upgrade package to the Monaco Grand Prix. The team forgoes the 'zeropods' and finally has sidepods. Christian Horner argues that visual changes sometimes have the least impact on the car's performance.

Mercedes has brought quite a few upgrades to Monaco. Most notably, the W14 now does have sidepods. As such, the team is abandoning the innovative 'zeropods' concept and seems to be following Red Bull Racing 's direction.

At the team bosses' press conference, Horner is asked about Mercedes' massive upgrades. "To be honest, I haven't had an in-depth look at the upgrade. Visually they look a bit different. But sometimes visual things have the least performance impact. It is what is underneath or the finer detail that has the biggest impact," said the Red Bull team boss.

Horner does not think the upgrades Mercedes has brought will benefit the German team's budget. "They have brought a significant number of parts, so they must have spent a significant part of their budget ceiling on this upgrade. It's up to a team how well they apply it."