Red Bull chiefs threatened walkout over exhaust saga

Red Bull chiefs threatened to boycott the British grand prix over the blown exhaust scandal, according to German newspaper Bild am Sonntag.

When it emerged that the team’s 50 per cent throttle concession was withdrawn before qualifying at Silverstone, Christian Horner was reportedly furious as he hopped between emergency meetings with FIA president Jean Todt and Bernie Ecclestone.

"Ecclestone persuaded Horner to stay," said the newspaper.

For now, Red Bull has accepted the current situation ahead of more talks on Sunday morning, where all the teams have been asked by the FIA to agree to dropping the clampdown altogether.

"It would be the fairest solution for everyone but experience tells me that self-interest in such a dispute always plays a role," McLaren team boss Martin Whitmarsh is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Agreed Mercedes’ Ross Brawn, to SID news agency: "The issue is so complex that it will be difficult to find a way. But I hope we do."

It is believed that Williams is yet to sign the letter confirming the teams’ unanimous position on reversing the clampdown.

"I need to discuss our position with Cosworth," Williams’ technical director Sam Michael is quoted by autohebdo.fr.

And Ferrari, whose Fernando Alonso leapt into race-winning contention with a strong qualifying on Saturday, is reportedly staying out of the debate but its customer team Sauber is yet to sign the unanimity letter.

"We are thinking too small in our small and dedicated world," Ferrari team principal Stefano Domenicali told the Guardian.

"People outside do not care about hot gases or cold gases. We need to take the level of discussion to another platform. This is the big challenge that we face for the future of formula one," he said.