Formula 1 has always thrived on its rivalries, both on and off the track.
This year, the drivers’ title race has been between McLaren teammates Oscar Piastri and Lando Norris.
Other than that incident in Canada where Norris hit the back of Piastri, their battles have mostly stayed respectful.
But not every pairing has been as civil, especially when you look at Christian Horner and Toto Wolff.
Even though there were times when they got along – like when they were seen together at the end of the 2023 season in Abu Dhabi – most of the time they were fierce rivals.
More recently, Red Bull protested George Russell’s win in Canada, even though it looked unlikely to go anywhere.
The issue went back to Qatar last year when Russell and Max Verstappen clashed. Both team bosses spoke out about it at the time, adding more tension between their teams.
After more than two decades with Red Bull, Horner has stepped down as team principal. This leaves Wolff without a familiar face to spar with around the paddock.
But as it turns out, Horner may have found another way to irritate him, this time much closer to home in Austria.
Toto Wolff received a Red Bull recognition from Austrian TV station, leaving Christian Horner ‘angry’
Peter Hardenacke was discussing Horner’s departure on the Backstage Boxengasse Podcast when he brought up the story.
He said: “Yes, and this vanity which grew ever greater with Christian Horner.
“I also think that Drive to Survive played a role there, right? That somewhere, the touch with reality was lost.
“There is an episode, perhaps someone could also tell you about it. There was a feature that was made by Servus TV, the in-house channel of Red Bull, about Toto Wolff, the team principal of Mercedes.
“And apparently Christian Horner saw it and then immediately made an angry phone call asking why they hadn’t done something like that with him.”
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The journalist continued: “So you can see in which areas Christian Horner was active and what was important to him.
“And even in some of the episodes of Drive to Survive. It’s a great format. Clearly it made Formula 1 bigger and more famous but I think that was already too far removed from what a team principal should be doing.”
Christian Horner looking to emulate Toto Wolff’s F1 team ownership role
Horner had a lot of control in his role at Red Bull as CEO and team principal, but he never had the chance to go one step further and become a part-owner.
Wolff, meanwhile, is both part-owner and team principal at Mercedes, a unique position that reportedly left Horner feeling envious.
Reports suggest that Horner and Bernie Ecclestone could go into a part-ownership agreement with a team on the grid.
Alpine might be open to selling a stake, which could present an intriguing opportunity for Horner.
He has maintained strong ties with Flavio Briatore, though it’s unlikely he would want another full-time team principal job in Formula 1. Even so, that doesn’t mean Horner is finished with the sport just yet.
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