When Max Verstappen won a historic tenth consecutive race this season, a salty Toto Wolff remarked it was a mere entry in a Wikipedia page, “no one reads.” Now that Red Bull and Max Verstappen stand at the precipice of championships in each of their disciplines, F1 journalist Chris Medland quotes Horner’s zingy statement addressing a proud moment in Red Bull’s future.
Following Wolff’s statements, the Mercedes team principal was at the receiving end of heavy backlash from fans and experts alike. Even Verstappen did not hold back and remarked Mercedes had a “shi**y” race in Monza, “So, probably he(Toto) was still p**sed off with their performance.” Following the same, it is only natural for Horner to also take a dig at his longtime rival when given the chance.
Christian Horner claps back at Wolff for his past comments
Heading to the Suzuka race, Red Bull leads its nearest competitor, Mercedes, by 308 points. With only 206 points up for grabs in the rest of the season, Red Bull retaining their constructor’s title is inevitable. It’s only a matter of time before they can wear the crown once again, and it could be Japan where they achieve the feat. Should the Austrian team’s driver finish 1-2 and have the fastest lap of the race, they will be champions by the end of the Japan GP.
Given the same, Chris Medland quoted Horner’s not-so-subtle jibe at Toto Wolff via his X (formerly Twitter) profile.
“If we can close out these two titles at the next few races – I know nobody looks at Wikipedia these days – but it’s an achievement we’ll be very proud of.”
Singapore was a horror show for the Milton Keynes-based outfit as they did not make the Q3 for the first time since 2018. Their poor form continued on the day of the feature race as both drivers struggled to get the best out of their cars.
However, the race in Japan is likely to not have a similar outcome as experts suggest the track layout perfectly suits the needs of the near-invincible RB19.
Red Bull already showing signs of revival
The Japan GP weekend is well underway, with FP1 already concluded. Verstappen led the field during Friday’s session by over half a second, with Ferrari’s Carlos Sainz and McLaren’s Lando Norris following in second and third, respectively. The results from the first driving session in Suzuka are evidence of the Singapore shock being a one-off event.
Furthermore, the numbers back to last week’s predictions that Red Bull will enjoy a strong comeback once racing starts in the East Asian Country.
While Red Bull looks as strong as they were before the Singapore GP, they might not enjoy a challenge-free race. McLaren will enter the race with a new upgrade pack at their expense, and experts suggest the MCL60 will be amongst the fastest cars on the grid on Sunday.
