Horner on Wolff: "I never, ever saw that kind of reaction"

Christian Horner sees that the battle for the world championship in 2022 is very different, especially off the track. Where last season Mercedes was the biggest rival, now it is Ferrari and those competitors are not comparable. Horner talks about it in an interview with The Telegraph.

Last season, team bosses Horner and Toto Wolff clashed often in the media. The atmosphere was very tense and the two racing teams could not stand each other. At some point it became just mud-slinging in the media. Horner can still marvel at how Mercedes made itself known.

Horner defends himself

"To be honest with you, I just tried to stay true to our values, to keep our heads down and do the best job that we could,” Horner says. “But you could see that it boiled over in the garage next door on a few occasions. That’s something I haven’t seen against another competitor. I’ve raced against Ross Brawn, Stefano Domenicali, Ron Dennis, Flavio Briatore, and I never, ever saw that kind of reaction," Horner reveals.

Today, Mercedes is struggling in Formula 1 and Ferrari has taken over the place at the absolute top from Wolff's team. Although the differences between them may be just as narrow, we have seen few clashes like the one in 2021. Horner: "It has been contained to being on track, which is healthy. It’s the way it should be. Last year it bubbled over into a lot of off-track politicking, and other things in the background. It’s a lot less personal now.”

Has Wolff learned nothing yet?

In the meantime, however, Wolff is said to have let himself be known again in a discussion regarding the measures taken to combat porpoising. The Austrian is said to have had an angry exchange of words with Mattia Binotto in Canada. Horner is also said to have joined in that not very pleasant conversation later on.