New Red Bull exhaust design legal insists Horner

With only 7 days remaining until the first practice session of the Australian Grand Prix, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has insisted that the new exhaust design on the RB8 is legal. This comes after many of their rivals up and down the grid have questioned its legality, calling for Charlie Whiting to scrutinize the design further.

The exhausts on the revised RB8 are situated as far forward as possible, so as to assist airflow around the “coke-bottle” section of the car. Along with this, slots on the rear of the floor of the chassis have also been discovered, which has increased rival teams suspicions that Red Bull could well be trying to direct the exhaust flow into the area of the diffuser, a feature that has been banned by the FIA for this season.

During pre-season testing, Red Bull mechanics were often seen covering up the rear of the car, creating suspicions as to what the team may be hiding. However, this tactic has been used by the team before, which means Red Bull could well be hiding nothing and simply be playing mind games with the opposition.

Red Bull team principal, Christian Horner, has insisted the exhaust design (which is reminiscent of Sauber’s and McLaren’s design) is legal: "We are happy that we comply with the regulations," Christian Horner said to AutoSport. "Ultimately it is a matter for the scrutineers and the FIA, as they have more knowledge and sight. Teams only ever get to see photographs; the FIA gets to see the cars close up in reality."

With a disastrous end to pre-season testing, which saw Red Bull suffer mechanical issues and incidents, the last thing they need is their exhaust design to be deemed illegal by the FIA.