Formula 1’s plan to stop teams exploiting loopholes in the rules is needed, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has said.

Changes to F1’s governing process next year will allow the sport to respond immediately to teams introducing innovations which threaten to damage the competition. Mercedes’ Dual Axis Steering system shows the change is necessary, Horner told RaceFans.

“I think so, because I think the problem is, if you take DAS for example, it’s an innovative and clever system, there are arguments to and for, you can probably argue it both ways. The consequence of it is that inevitably it will drive costs for the teams that choose to exploit that kind of technology.”

Several teams have already ruled out developing their own versions of DAS because of the cost and complexity involved.

Horner believes the 2021 rules change will not discourage teams from developing their cars. “I think so long as it’s done responsibly, that’s fine.

“The problem we’ve got is the regulations are quite complex and not particularly transparent in the way that they are written. And of course, it all comes down to interpretation, which is often quite difficult.”

However he suspects the new rules will not necessarily stop teams developing innovations such as DAS, even if the potential benefit from it is reduced.

“It depends what performance it yields,” said Horner. “So you may well develop something for even a 12 month period if it has benefit.

“Or whatever period of time you can get away with it. It’s like F-ducts, it’s like double diffusers, it’s like whatever suspension systems that used to be on the car, all those things.”

Horner doesn’t see the coming change in the rules as a threat to innovation in the sport. “I think innovation has to be a fundamental part of Formula 1,” he said.

“I mean, here we are talking about the DAS system, it’s very clever, some bright engineers have come up with it, and I think innovation is absolutely part of Formula 1.”

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and go ad-free

2020 F1 season