Red Bull: F1 should push on with 2017 rule changes

Teams and grand prix chiefs are due to meet next week in the Strategy Group and F1 Commission to finalise plans for an overhaul of regulations that will deliver faster and more aggressive-looking cars next year.

But on the back of an exciting start to this season, and the fact that 2016 machinery has matched fastest laps from previous eras of F1 racing, there are some who have questioned the need to undertake an expensive rules overhaul.

Horner is adamant, however, that a shake-up of the regulations will be good for F1, because it will move around the competitive order to make things more exciting for fans.

“I think the change is a positive change,” he explained. “It will make the cars more dramatic, and more challenging for the drivers to drive.

“It is not a totally clean sheet of paper but it is a significant change, and that will maybe shuffle the order up a bit.

"I think while the racing has been good this year, a shuffling of the pack is probably not a bad thing.”

Mercedes dominance

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said last week that F1 should call off the changes for 2017 because the current cars were working so well.

However, with the aerodynamic changes already written in the regulations, there is little hope of enough of his rivals being in agreement to get the new rules ditched.

Some have suggested that Mercedes is only against the change because it is currently dominant.

But Horner says that there is no reason why the German car manufacturer would not be able to maintain its place at the front of the field anyway.

“Maybe they will get it better than everyone else, but when you get a significant rule change it does move the order around,” he said.

“Inevitably the big teams get on top of it quicker sometimes than others.

"It is the first significant regulation change that Mercedes will have faced in its current guise, but it is a challenge for everybody.”