Toto Wolff and Christian Horner were involved in a war of words amidst the incredible 2021 title challenge between the two teams.
In 2021, Christian Horner and Toto Wolff were in a constant war of words due to all the differences the title challenge brought to them. The arguments heated when the two title protagonists from these teams- Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen title changing collisions.
But with the season over, Mercedes boss Wolff claims he regrets having such conflicts with his counterpart Horner. He thinks that the competition eventually became too personal.
“I really regret it,” he told Dutch publication Formule 1 Magazine. “I always try to stay professional and approach things professionally. It got very personal between the two of us at some point, that’s right.
“He told me to ‘keep my mouth shut’ [during the flexi-wing situation] and then I responded by saying he was a windbag and talked too much for the cameras. I shouldn’t have said that.
“It’s a professional relationship and you know that even your worst enemy has a best friend, so you have to respect that person, even if you fight a hard duel in a professional environment.”
Also read: Christian Horner talks about mind games with Mercedes boss in last seasons championship battle
Toto Wolff says Susie Wolff played an important role to keep the peace
The stakes were definitely high in the 2021 title challenge. But Wolff is grateful that his wife Susie Wolff, who is the boss of Formula E Venturi, for slapping his wrists when relations with Horner were going out of the limit.
“Susie pointed that out to me very clearly,” Wolff explained. “She said, ‘Why are you having these kinds of discussions? You’re trying to win, respect that. Even if someone goes in that direction, you don’t have to’. That’s called female social intelligence!”
