On a Sky documentary called ‘Secrets of Success’, F1 team principals Toto Wolff and Christian Horner were part of a wide- ranging group of people from various sports who discussed leadership with English cricket great Nasser Hussain.
First up, the Mercedes and Red Bull team bosses got asked about the relationship they share with each other.
Wolff on Horner:
“He’s a good team manager, but he’s a very different personality and has very different values to what we have here in the organisation.
“But [nevertheless], he’s still successful.”
Horner on Wolff:
“Toto, I have a huge amount of respect for everything he’s done and achieved.
“But we’re competitors. I have never been a believer 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 we’re united.”
2021 saw proper needle on and off the track between Mercedes and Red Bull. As Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton went head-to-head for the Drivers’ Championship, Horner and Wolff traded verbals away from it.
The British team principal believes Wolff smashing up headphones was a sign of weakness late into an extraordinary season that went Verstappen’s way in controversial circumstances.
“Any sport is a mind game. When you see your counterpart losing it and smashing a set of headphones up, you think ‘okay, you’re feeling the pressure’.
“And if he’s feeling the pressure, everybody else around him is feeling the pressure. Pressure permeates from the top.
“I would never smash a set of headphones up.”
When asked about it, Wolff says it’s about being real and not hiding his emotions and feelings.
“I am just trying to be authentic. I am very emotional. I am taking it badly when somebody tries to harm the team.
“Sometimes the headphones break and when I see that, I am not proud. But this is just who I am. I can’t hide it.”
It’s been just over 19 months since the 2021 Abu Dhabi, but the tension between these two still seems to be as strong as ever.
Photo credit: Red Bull Content Pool
