“Depending on the calibration of your sensor, it will determine your
competitiveness, which is completely wrong,” Horner told Autosport.
“Teams will end up buying hundreds of sensors, as some manufacturers already
have, to try to pick the best.
“It ends up like the tricks in go-karting, where you go through carburettors
to try to find the best ones. I don’t think that is an acceptable way of
moving forward.”
The 40 year-old suggested he was baffled that in a sport which costs millions
of pounds, a more reliable measurement could not be found.
Red Bull will travel to Paris on April 14 to argue the case for why they
believe Ricciardo should not have been excluded from his home race in
Melbourne, and are bullish about their chances.
Horner said on Wednesday that the technical directive issued by the stewards
during the Australian Grand Prix is an “opinion”, and therefore does not
hold “regulatory value”.
Formula One knows a good argument when it sees one, and fuel sensors are an
issue which has already divided the paddock. Ferrari and Mercedes have
argued it should be left to the FIA to “manage” the technology changes, and
Marussia’s sporting director Graeme Lowdon suggested the appeal could “open
the floodgates”.
Meanwhile, away from all the hullaballoo and argument, Malaysia was in sombre
mood as it welcomed Formula One after the disappearance of flight MH370.
The Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, sponsored by Petronas,
the state oil company which also backs the race, will carry the message
“Come Home MH370” on their livery.
A concert featuring Christian Aguilera to mark the weekend has also been
cancelled as a “sign of respect” for those affected by the tragedy.
Datuk Razlan Razail, the Sepang circuit’s chief executive, added: “The
atmosphere is subdued and I understand everyone is talking about it [the
flight] everywhere and asking why we are hosting a Formula One race under
the circumstances, but it is something that was decided a long time ago.
“The teams have arrived and the race will go on, including the post-race
concert … but we must be sensitive and not go overboard.”