Max Verstappen ‘not worried’ by ‘extreme’ design of title rival Lewis Hamilton’s new Mercedes, as Red Bull deny Christian Horner’s ‘not legal’ comments

Max Verstappen has stated that he isn't concerned about the 'extreme' new design of title rival Lewis Hamilton's Mercedes car.

The W13, has been a big talking point since its release with drivers and contructors commenting on its lack of sidepods.

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Red Bull even denied Christian Horner had said elements of the vehicle were 'not legal'.

"Christian Horner has not given any interviews regarding Mercedes' car," their statement read.

"Any quotes being attributed to him this morning are incorrect."

And Defending Formula 1 champion, Verstappen doesn't care about what Hamilton and his team are doing with the vehicle.

“No, I’m not concerned. We can only focus on ourselves," he said.

“I said this so many times last year and we have to do it again this year, even if the cars look a bit different.

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“There are so many unknown things, what we need to learn about, so I’m not worried at all.”

And Formula 1 managing director Ross Brawn has admitted the design was a shock.

He said: "There's no doubt that the Mercedes concept, we didn't anticipate. It's a very extreme interpretation of the regulation."

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff, meanwhile, spoke of his pride around the new look.

“I think we are really proud of what we have achieved in terms of concept,” said Wolff, “but now we need to make it go fast.

"I think it’s a development direction that we like, and it’s about tuning the car and so we are experimenting a lot, as we’ve done during the day, and approaching it with curiosity.

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“I think there [are still] issues that are… Bahrain-specific,” added Wolff. “It’s very hot, you see a lot of cars still bouncing – some on the straights, others through the corners – so it’s a tuning question. And we haven’t really looked at performance data yet.”

And Wolff insisted the FIA had been liased with over the design.

He said: “The process is very clear: when you go in a specific development direction that you deem as having the FIA a part of scrutinising it, you are exchanging CAD [computer-aided design] data. You’re making them part of the process.”

Only time will tell how well Mercedes' new car performs and they will hope it gets off to a flier in the season opener in Bahrain on March 18.