Wolff reflects on feud with Horner and Red Bull: "I really regret it"

While tensions were rising in the title fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, the same happened between team bosses Toto Wolff and Christian Horner. In retrospect, the Mercedes team boss does regret his altercations with Horner, which became personal at one point.

The feud between Mercedes and Red Bull Racing began to take serious shape when the German racing team, led by Wolff, began complaining about areas in which Red Bull had an advantage. When Verstappen was run off the track by title rival Hamilton at Silverstone, the bond between them cooled to below freezing.

In the races that followed, the team bosses were increasingly the focus of attention. The stings under water culminated in personal insults, something Wolff regrets in retrospect. "I really regret it," declares the Austrian at Formula 1 Magazine. "It became very personal between us at one point."

Wolff also saw the feud begin during the discussion about Red Bull's flexible rear wing. At one point Horner told his rival to shut up, to which the Mercedes team boss responded by calling Horner a "windbag" and saying he was too preoccupied with how he came across on camera. "I shouldn't have said that. It's a professional relationship and you have to respect that person," Wolff said.