"I think he's just bored at the front"- Mercedes' Toto Wolff hits back at Red Bull's Christian Horner over 'lobbying' FIA remarks amidst porpoising row in F1

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hit out at Christian Horner's remarks that the German team was lobbying the FIA to change rules for the 2023 season. The Mercedes boss shrugged off these remarks and suggested that Christian Horner was probably "bored" at the front. Speaking to the media, Toto said:

"I think he's just bored at the front. So good for him. Trying to work with the FIA is always part of it. I don't know what he refers to because, in the end, we are all part of the same circus. We work with the same stakeholders. Is he not lobbying? He sits in his office, he doesn't call anyone, and does his thing?"

The Mercedes boss made it clear that if the FIA is going to implement something on safety grounds then the teams can't do much about it!

"You wonder, I read in the media that it [the rule change] is not relevant, it's not a big change, so why are they fighting that we're threatening to go legal? No team is ever going to go legal against the FIA, number one. Plus, if the FIA decides to implement something on safety grounds. I'd be watching guys. So I think this is just posing."

In the last few races, bouncing has not been much of an issue but the Mercedes boss was quick to point out that this was due to the track's surface. It was not a result of teams finding a solution to the problem.

"I think it's just business as usual. There is an inherent issue of cars that we are not seeing here, that we've not seen in Austria, neither did we see it in Silverstone, because the tracks are the flattest of the year. But it didn't go away. The cars are way too stiff and they bounce. And if you ask the driver, you will probably have a majority that will, if asked anonymously, tell you that.

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff: Let's ask the drivers!

The Mercedes boss had a rather interesting take as well where he said that maybe the drivers needed to be asked how they felt about the whole situation. This would prove to be quite revealing in this case.

"I think there was such a discussion among the drivers and there's also an outcome that nobody talks about. And I think we'll see where that goes. I think it's not a matter of compromise about technical regulations, it is about technical regulations that protect the drivers and, if these cars are too stiff and too bouncy, then let's do something right now about it."

"Clearly when you're running in the front you just want to just make sure that nothing changes, and when you're not running at the front, you want to make sure that a lot changes. So these are the two spectrums of positions that this is really about. Let's just ask the drivers."

The bouncing debate is surely going to gain momentum in the coming weeks and it will be interesting to see teams like Mercedes and Red Bull going at it in the media.