Mercedes responds to winning bid Horner: "Always read the small print"

Red Bull Racing team boss Christian Horner was in the news after a playful stunt: as part of a charity auction, he made the highest bid for a tour of the Mercedes factory. However, it seems that the fine print will throw a spanner in the works.

Mercedes has since responded to the promotion. In doing so, the team let it be known that there are some conditions attached to the prize. Employees of other Formula 1 teams are not eligible for the tour.

So it looks like the outing of the Red Bull team boss together with Adrian Newey, among others, will not happen. Nevertheless, Mercedes has not yet ruled out the possibility that the tour could go ahead after all under certain conditions. "We haven't discussed it yet," a spokesman for the German racing stable explained to The Sun.

He continued: "To do that, we would have to waive the terms under which it was offered. It always pays to read the small print!" So it will be a while yet to see if Mercedes will welcome Red Bull's rivals.