Horner responds to McLaren open letter regarding Mercedes pressure: 'A shame'

Disagreements between McLaren and Mercedes culminated on Friday in an open letter from Zak Brown and a back and forth of allegations between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner, Red Bull team principal. Brown claims his team is under pressure from Mercedes when it comes to votes on the future of the sport, something Wolff denies.

An open letter from McLaren chief Zak Brown this week caused a stir. In the letter, Brown calls for an anonymous ballot at the FIA commission, this is because of external pressure he experienced in an attempt to influence his vote.

Asked for his views on the state of affairs during the press briefing for team bosses, Red Bull's Christian Horner said he regretted the situation: "It would be a shame to need to go behind a secret ballot – but a team has a right to request that. But if that's what it needs to take independent votes, then we don’t have a major issue with it."

Furthermore, Horner points to Mercedes as the likely culprit for the external pressure on McLaren. The team boss states, "I can only assume it’s because of pressure applied from the supplier. If that is the case, it is a shame."

Toto Wolff, defending his position after Horner, in turn points towards Red Bull and Ferrari. "ou have seen in the past that Toro Rosso has voted like Red Bull, probably without any exceptions, and Haas has gone the Ferrari way. In our case, we have never tried to influence a team", Wolff said.