"Absolutely no issues or concerns"- Red Bull's Christian Horner hits back at Mercedes' Toto Wolff over 'total rubbish' flexi-floor advantage in F1

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has denied Mercedes boss Toto Wolff’s flexi-floor claims.

The FIA has been trying to clamp down on alleged abuse of gray areas in the 2022 regulations by some teams. Horner said that Milton Keynes had no concerns about the legality of their car floors. Responding to the claims, he took a dig at Mercedes by joking that Wolff might be referring to his rivals in the midfield.

Speaking to Sky Sports F1 ahead of the 2022 F1 French GP, the Briton said:

“That’s total rubbish. [We have] absolutely no issues or concerns on our floor. [Toto Wolff] is probably referring to the cars around him at the moment.”

A few races ago, the FIA issued a technical directive clarifying the rules governing the 2022 car floors. Ahead of the French GP later this weekend, teams are expected to comply with the technical directive.

Following the 2022 F1 Austrian GP, Wolff was asked whether he believed that some teams were exploiting the gray areas in the rules. He replied, saying:

“I haven’t been able to squeeze the skids of certain teams, [but] I think so.”

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Red Bull questions whether it is the FIA's “duty” to ensure teams are running their cars safely

Red Bull's Christian Horner has questioned whether it is “the duty of the FIA” to ensure that teams are running their cars safely. In contrast, whether the teams themselves should be taking the initiative to do so.

Speaking to Sky Sports during the Austrian GP weekend, Horner said:

"The technical directive is obviously focused on the bouncing and the porpoising which certain cars have struggled with."

He added:

"Obviously we saw at Silverstone, no cars were really affected by it. Is it the duty of the competitor to make sure their car is safe? Or is it the duty of the FIA to ensure that the competitor runs their car safely?"

The FIA has chosen to intervene in favor of a few teams affected by porpoising by issuing a series of technical directives. However, teams such as Ferrari, Red Bull, and Alpine have argued against it.

These teams believe that the burden of ensuring drivers’ safety should be placed on the affected teams themselves. They substantiate this by citing that every team is presented with the same regulations, making it unfair to adjust according to a few's needs.