Horner rivals dismiss claim

Horner: Mind-games?

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Red Bull's rivals have rejected claims from team principal Christian Horner, who suggested the Italian Grand Prix will be his team's "weakest" of the year.

Horner is not holding high hopes of his teams' chances on the September 12th meeting on a Monza circuit that contains long straights spread between three chicanes.

Red Bull currently lead the constructors' championship by a solitary point, but Horner has been quoted as saying drivers Mark Weber and Sebastien Vettel face "a tough weekend" in "McLaren territory".

Such comments, though, have been scoffed at by McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh and Ferrari counterpart Stefano Domenicali, who feel Horner is playing mind-games.

Sceptical

"For once, I really hope Christian is right," joked Whitmarsh, whose team are second in the constructors' championship on 329 points.

"People are saying we're going to be very strong there, but I don't know how they deduce that.

"We'll aim to be as strong as we can, and I hope everyone is right in their confidence for us. I'm not sure how. They must have more information than me."

Domenicali was also sceptical of Horner's remarks, adding: "The weakest track for them? I would love to be in their position. You can tell Christian that.

"I would love to have the weakest situation for Monza, but I don't think so.

"They have a very good car. The numbers speak for themselves. Let's see if it is just tactics or if it is true."