Red Bull have brought one of their biggest upgrade packages of the season to the Hungaroring and Daniel Ricciardo cashed in, setting the fastest time of anyone in the first free practice session.
Rival teams had lodged concerns with the FIA about the way the front wing on the Red Bull appeared to be flapping down at high speed, illegal under current regulations.
And the heavily upgraded RB13 has arrived in Hungary with an apparent strengthening of the area which many assumed was due to an instruction from the sport’s authorities.
But Horner has dismissed the claims, believing the wing is not everything it appears to be.
“We haven’t been told to stiffen the front wing,” Horner told Sky Sports.
“There’s some optical illusions when people have got carried away thinking the front wing is flexing.
“But if you look at the static point of the wing, it’s actually pointed in a backed-off position.
“There’s been no instruction [from the FIA] and it passed all the tests. It gives an illusion of backing off but if you look at it in a stationary position, it’s doing the same thing.
“All the bits have to work in conjunction with each other.
“[Our floor] is on a theme others are pursuing and as with all these things, it passes the test so it’s legal.”
Red Bull have endured a difficult first half of the 2017 season, with Max Verstappen having retired from five of the 10 races so far.
But Horner is confident progress is being made, even if Ferrari are already 101 points ahead of them in second in the World Constructors’ Championship.
“Really since Barcelona race, the car has got better and better,” Horner added.
“In the last four races, we’ve only given up two points to Ferrari. We’re definitely going in the right direction.
“We have a mentality to keep pushing through this championship irrelevant of what the tables say because you’re always learning.
“When the press release comes out saying you’re focused on next year’s car, it’s a cop-out.
“Everything that we see from the remaining races we’ve still got time to incorporate that into next year’s car.”
