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Horner and Wolff are far from finished: ''You've got to report the facts''
Christian Horner has made it clear once again that it was not only Red Bull Racing that was complaining to Michael Masi in Abu Dhabi. Speaking to the BBC Red Bull team boss points to Mercedes' competitors.
Although Toto Wolff and Horner both said that they had put 2021 and especially the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix behind them, several interviews show that this is not quite the case. When talking about the situation in Abu Dhabi, the team bosses of Mercedes and Red Bull are not afraid to give the other a slap on the wrist.
Talks with Masi
After the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix there was a lot of criticism of the way Red Bull acted. The Mercedes camp accused Horner and Jonathan Wheatley of influencing Masi. Wolff even stated that Max Verstappen could thank his team manager Wheatley, as his "bromance" with Masi helped in Abu Dhabi.
When confronted with those statements, Horner showed the other side of Wolff. ''You've got to report the facts. Who was the first to call Michael? It wasn't me. I'm only responding to the pressure being applied on him that I can hear in my ear from a rival team. It's my job as the principal of the team that I represent to defend it,'' Horner said in the interview with the British medium.
The pressure from Mercedes
With that, Horner immediately raises an interesting subject. Indeed, where Wolff and Mercedes are blaming Red Bull for putting pressure on Masi, causing one more lap to be raced, it was indeed Wolff who was the first to hear from Masi. Earlier in the race, he already pressured Masi not to interfere in a race with a virtual safety car.
Of course, there was also pressure from Red Bull in the closing stages of the race, but it was not as bad as Mercedes, according to Horner. ''I think it was probably less than the pressure that our rivals were pushing on to not have a safety car. Or to back-track a lap. Or not to have a virtual safety car, or for the virtual safety car to go into a full safety car,'' Horner concludes his summing up.
