The 2023 Abu Dhabi GP turned out to be quite different than some of the previous occasions for Toto Wolff and Christian Horner. A picture of the duo being all smiles after the race went viral on social media and fans were left shocked in disbelief. However, that was not the only shocking part as Kym Illman reports that before the friendly exchange between the duo, Geri Halliwell went up and spanked Toto Wolff.
In his recent Abu Dhabi GP Behind the Scenes video, Kym Illman reported, “About 10 minutes ago, he [Toto Wolff] was standing and Geri Halliwell walked past him and gave him a whopping slap on the arse with her husband, Christian, not far behind.”
Being Horner’s wife, Geri Halliwell has been a regular face in the paddock in the recent times. The duo tied the knot in 2015 and since then, the Spice Girl has been present at various races as part of Red Bull to support her husband. This season has not been an exception as well, with Halliwell being present at the last race of the season alongside Horner.
The whole incident was a light hearted joke and none of the parties took things seriously. Horner joined the party immediately and as per Illman, had some witty banter with Wolff. The duo were then photographed together and subsequently, the image went viral.
The days of Christian Horner vs Toto Wolff seem to be long gone
All of this was quite in contrast to how F1 fans are used to seeing Horner and Wolff. Just a couple of seasons ago, the duo were battling it out for the championship title, always breathing down each other’s necks.
However, those days are long on and the priorities have changed for the teams. Red Bull have been extremely dominant over the last few season, completely obliterating the other teams on the grid.
On the contrary, Mercedes have fallen behind quite a bit. While they finish P3 in the championship last year, this year, the Silver Arrows found themselves in a tough battle with Ferrari. However, they managed to get the better of the Maranello outfit and hung on to P2 by a mere 3 point margin.
Despite the immense gap in performance, Mercedes have always maintained that their main aim is to chase down Red Bull and especially Max Verstappen. They hope to take a major step towards doing that with the 2024 challenger.
