Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff says that his rivalry with Red Bull boss Christian Horner is absolutely genuine.
Toto Wolff and Christian Horner have always had heated exchange of words during their time as team bosses of their respective outfits. However, the tensions between the two have escalated into a whole new level in 2021.
Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen have been at each other’s heel for the Driver’s Championship all year long. Even Red Bull as a team have been challenging Mercedes for the Constructor’s title. Horner said earlier that he is very proud of his team, as no one else has been able to push Mercedes this much in the turbo-hybrid era.
Verstappen and Hamilton go into the final race of the season level on points. Meanwhile, Red Bull are 28.5 points behind Mercedes in the Constructor’s standings.
In the latest episode of the F1 nation podcast, Wolff opened up about his rivalry with Horner.
“It’s absolutely genuine, because there’s so much at stake.” he said.
“It’s ambitious people, ambitious teams that are fighting really tooth-to-nail for this championship. And once you’re in that, there’s just no ability in your mind to even create a space for another person, at least for me.”
The Mercedes boss gets carried away with what Horner says sometimes
Toto Wolff went to say that he does not expect to have a normal relationship with the Red Bull boss. He feels that a lot is at stake and both supremos are totally committed to taking their team to the top.
He also said that he ‘gets carried away’ with what he hears Horner says.
“I have no negative nor positive emotions, but I’m trying to really stay in that place. Sometimes I was carried away when I heard comments that annoyed me, but only twice this season.” the Austrian continued.
“The rest is no emotion, neither positive nor negative.”
“Everybody’s just trying to defend the interests of the team. We are very different personalities, also, [in] the way we probably perceive the world.
“I try to just stay authentic to what I believe is right, and he does it his way. Maybe in the future we can have a laugh about it, but not today.” he concluded.
