Christian Horner and Toto Wolff’s relationship has long been an entertaining storyline in F1. The two just don’t get along. Media wars, off-track comments, and, more notably, their rivalry on Drive to Survive has been major talking points. Another level to the whole Red Bull-Mercedes rivalry, the two team bosses couldn’t bother with playing off a cordial relationship.
The 2021 season only catalyzed this rivalry. In a high-pressure championship fight, the two showed their true colors, and their constant back and forth only pointed to a high-tension relationship.
This dynamic feeds into the rivalry between the two teams and even their star players, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen. In a recent episode of the Pardon My Take podcast, Horner was asked about his arch nemesis, and the response was rather uncharacteristic.
Red Bull boss reveals the true nature of his relationship with Mercedes rival
On the podcast, Horner was asked if Wolff were to call him up for a friendly dinner, what his response would be like. “I think he’s blocked,” Horner responded before breaking out into laughter.
More seriously, Honer reasoned that there is no sport without rivalry. “It’s fine. I mean look, there’s healthy competition, and it’s good to have rivalry in sport.”
Compared to the childish outburst the two tend to have, the Red Bull man now has a more mature perspective. Respectfully, he gives his rivals their due praise. “They did a lot of winning, they’re a great team, and now we’re doing our thing and we’re tending not to look behind and looking forward.”
Toto Wolff 🆚 Christian Horner
Round One, ding ding 🥊😉#AzerbaijanGP 🇦🇿 #F1 pic.twitter.com/iho1075TjL
— Formula 1 (@F1) June 5, 2021
In fact, Horner removes Wolff from the picture completely. “It’s not really about Toto. It’s about Ferrari, about Aston Martin. And he’s no doubt, got his challenges, so I’ll let him focus on those.”
Has Horner really backed out from the fight? Has the story arch actually developed? Looks like the days of bickering have come to an end as a new Christian Horner steps into the ring.
Leaked footage in next season of driver to survive Toto Wolff and Christian Horner discussing Sergio Perez exit from Q1 in 2023 #AustralianGP pic.twitter.com/TVDopB1gEY
— ahmed baokbah 🇸🇦 🏎️🛩️ (@ahmed_baokbah) April 1, 2023
With the stakes so high, Horner realizes the importance of putting it all into his team. But this doesn’t mean rivalries end. “It’s boring if everybody just loves each other and whatever. You’ve got to have a rivalry and it’s got to fire people up.”
The passion is still there, the competition is never-ending. It has probably just taken a new form. Hoping that this banter between the two never ends- the name-calling, the backhanded compliments- it has truly been something that has brought life to the F1 community. Something worth grabbing your popcorn over.
