'Toto loves to hate me' - Horner responds to Verstappen/Russell row
Fri 06, Dec, 2024
Source: The Race
Christian Horner says his rival Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff “loves to hate me” as he responded to the escalating row between Max Verstappen and George Russell.
On Thursday in Abu Dhabi, Russell accused Verstappen of telling him he would “put you on your f***ing head in the wall” prior to the Qatar GP as retribution for Russell’s conduct in the stewards meeting that cost Verstappen pole position.
Wolff even joined Russell during his usual driver-only Thursday media session to call Horner “weak” for enabling Verstappen’s behaviour.
Verstappen said Russell was “making things up that aren’t true” and it was then the turn of Horner to weigh in when he was inevitably asked a barrage of questions about it in the pre-race team representatives press conference on Friday.
“Max is a very straight shooter, he just tells the truth, exactly what he feels,” Horner said.
“A lot of has been made of it, yesterday, it’s pantomime season, we’re getting ready for Christmas.
“There’s maybe an element of end of term blues there. But I don’t think it will have any affect on the grand prix itself."
Horner believes Verstappen's word and says he's "100%" sure what he's said happened is accurate.
And what did he make of Wolff calling him a “yapping little terrier” on Thursday?
“Well I love terriers, I think they’re great dogs. I’ve had four of them, had a couple of airedales, which are the kind of the terriers. A couple of west highland terriers called Bernie and Flavio,” Horner responded.
“The good thing about terriers is that they’re tremendously loyal. Bernie was an aggressive little dog, he’d go for anybody. Flavio he was a bit more chilled out, he probably ate a bit too much as well.
“To be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing, I’d rather be a terrier than a ‘Wolff’ maybe.”
‘Russell roasted his team’
On Thursday Wolff took issue with Horner accusing Russell of ‘hysterics’ in front of the Qatar GP stewards and being “hysterical” across the Lusail weekend.
Wolff said that “crossed a line” as Horner’s “forte for sure is not intellectual psychoanalysis”.
When this was put to Horner, he said “Toto is quite dramatic as we all know. I wasn’t talking about the psychology of his driver.
“And when I was referring to hysterics I was more referring to the roasting that he gave his team when they fit a set of hards onto his car when he’d asked for mediums.
“He expressed his displeasure for the tyre choice - I’d get fined if I was to repeat the language that was used in this press conference.
“A lot has been said, Toto likes to talk a lot but that’s the way it is.”
A love-hate relationship
This weekend has sparked memories of Wolff and Horner’s continuous digs towards each other during a tense 2021 title fight.
There have been a couple of other flashpoints since including Wolff’s open courting of Verstappen’s services this year, so will needle always exist between them?
“I really don’t know. It needs to be about what you do on the track,” Horner said.
“There’s sort of a love-hate relationship where Toto loves to hate me. But it’s one of those things.
“I’d have assumed he had more on his plate. It’s Lewis’s last race for that team. I think they should be celebrating that, rather than focussing on other aspects.”
Horner said he wouldn't "raise to the bait" of Wolff calling his leadership of the team "weak" and finished off his questioning with "we've won 122 races, we've won 14 world championships, I think we're doing alright".