Christian Horner’s attempts to sneak a peek at Mercedes’ new W13 have been thwarted, and by the smallest of things – the T&Cs.
The Red Bull team boss had social media laughing on Sunday when he made the winning bid at the Autosport Awards for a tour of the Mercedes factory.
Initially bidding £3,000 under the name ‘Chrisrian Horner’, he upped that to £4,000 to be safe.
That was the winning bid, with the Briton joking he would be taking up to “20” of his Red Bull colleagues with him.
Christian…is that you? 🧐#F1 pic.twitter.com/yNTVrTbFe6
— PlanetF1 (@Planet_F1) February 7, 2022
Unfortunately for Horner, it does not look as if he will have the opportunity.
And that is all because of the fine print…always read the fine print.
It is being reported terms and conditions for the Mercedes tour state “employees of other Formula 1 teams are not eligible to take this tour”.
But Mercedes may yet make an exception.
“We haven’t discussed it yet,” a Mercedes spokesperson told The Sun.
“To do so, we’d have to waive the terms and conditions under which it was offered – always pays to read the small print!”
Horner’s bid helped raise close to £50,000 for the Grand Prix Trust at the Autosport Awards on Sunday. The Grand Prix Trust is a charity that offers support to the F1 community, including ex-drivers and employees.
Red Bull and Mercedes go into this year’s title fight as favourites, Max Verstappen having beaten Lewis Hamilton to last year’s Drivers’ title while Mercedes took the Constructors’ for a record-breaking eighth successive season.
Horner, though, admits he is a bit worried last year’s efforts to win the title could hurt Red Bull this year.
Speaking to broadcaster WION, he said: “I think there could be a shake-up in the order.
“I think you could see teams like Ferrari, McLaren, maybe even one or two surprises because it’s a complete reset of the regulations and ourselves and Mercedes were very much involved in last year’s championship fight.
“So inevitably, that takes a little bit of distraction and emphasis away from the following year.”
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