Christian Horner: Red Bull boss says it would be ‘dishonest’ to be ‘best mates’ with Formula 1 rival Toto Wolff

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner says it would be “dishonest” to be “best mates” with Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff.

Red Bull and Mercedes have been the two most dominant teams in the sport, winning every F1 world title since 2010.

But the rivalry increased in intensity in 2021 as the battle between Red Bull’s Max Verstappen and McLaren’s Lewis Hamilton went down to the final lap of the last race in Abu Dhabi.

Horner says he will always “respect” Wolff, but says he could not be best mates with the German.

“But we’re competitors. I’ve never been a believer that you can be the best mate with your competitor. I think it’s dishonest.

“I want everybody in my team to see that whoever we’re racing against is the competition, that’s who we’re there to compete with and as a team that we’re united.”

When answering a question about what his relationship with Horner is like, Wolff said: “He’s a good team manager.

“But it’s very different personality and very different values to what we have here in the organisation. But he’s still successful.”

Wolff was seen smashing his headset after Hamilton and Verstappen collided in the penultimate race of the 2021 season in Saudi Arabia. Horner says he would never be seen doing the same.

He said: “Any sport is a mind game but when you see a camp part losing it and smashing a set of headphones up you think ‘OK, you’re feeling the pressure’.

“And if he is feeling the pressure, then everybody else around him is feeling the pressure, because pressure permeates from the top.

“I would never smash a set of headphones up. Internally I would have smashed mentally those headphones just as hard as him but I just wouldn’t have done it physically. I just think everybody is different.”