Horner: "After three races it's clear whether banning party mode make sense"
F1 News
- GPblog.com
As of the next Grand Prix, the FIA will ban the use of different engine modes for qualifying. This includes the banning of party mode, which is particularly important to Mercedes. According to Christian Horner, team boss of Red Bull Racing, the new rule is a good step, but it will not directly bring about a change on the circuit.
"So from next week on, we can't screw up our bike for a specific lap, so the settings you use during qualifying must also be used during the race. So there will be less difference between qualifying and the race around motorbike performance," Horner explained to Sky Sports. "We hope that this will bring qualifying closer together and that we will be closer to Mercedes in the race."
No downside for Red Bull
"I think there are indeed some differences between engines and it will be interesting to see what happens after the new rule. Mercedes will probably still be the fastest, but that change will narrow the gap. I think we can only really say that after two or three races". According to Horner, it won't be much of a drawback for Red Bull.
"Of course you still have DRS to catch up with. We just see that that party mode can have a lot of influence over a lap, so it will be interesting to see what kind of influence it will have."