An initially innocuous ’tweet’ by a Swiss test driver has stirred up a controversy involving the championship-leading team Red Bull.
Neel Jani wrote on his Twitter account this week that he "really worked my neck out" on Sunday during a 400 kilometre test at the wheel of the RB7.
The test is believed to have taken place at the Idiada venue in Spain.
The 27-year-old’s comment raised eyebrows because the only testing allowed during the season is to be conducted in a straight line, but Jani said his neck was twinged due to "high speed cornering".
The offending tweets have been deleted.
A Red Bull spokesperson denied to f1fanatic.co.uk that Jani’s test broke the rules.
"We did not complete high speed cornering and tested within the permitted regulations — which is an aero test carried out on FIA approved straight line or constant radius sites," the spokesperson said.
Red Bull also claimed Jani did not write the tweets himself.