Christian Horner has his say on the latest Max Verstappen-George Russell war of words, while clarifying his comments and responding to Toto Wolff.
It all started on Saturday of F1 Qatar GP when Red Bull’s Verstappen was pulled up by the stewards for driving slowly on his out lap and was eventually handed a one place grid drop. This enraged the Dutchman as he and Mercedes’ Russell had an exchange.
After the race, Verstappen noted how disappointed he was with Russell and that he is two-faced, being nice in front of camera and inside with the stewards, he is different. The Brit got the chance to answer back at the onset of Abu Dhabi GP when he spoke to media alongside Wolff.
Usually, the team bosses don’t speak on Thursday but in this instance Wolff tagged along and laid down some high words for Horner. The Austrian dared the Brit to disregard his driver Russell. The Red Bull chief got his chance to clarify and answer back on some of the questions raised.
Horner noted that he didn’t mean to attack Russell’s state of mind when he stated about hysteria. It was more about the complaints that the Brit was making with his team while discussing strategy in Qatar GP on the radio. He laballed Wolff as dramatic and urged him to focus on the race weekend more.
Any trust issues with Verstappen –
Horner: “No, not at all. I think that… Look, Max, he’s a very straight shooter. He just tells you exactly how he sees it. He tells the truth exactly, you know, what he feels. And obviously he had a large amount of frustration, you know, last weekend, the way things played out in a scenario that we haven’t seen before and a subsequent grid penalty. And then, you know, he turned that into motivation and made a blinding start, led the race into the first corner and won the Grand Prix, which is the best possible response. Now obviously, a lot’s been made of it yesterday. It’s pantomime season. You know, we’re getting ready for Christmas. So there’s maybe an element of end-of-term blues there. But I don’t think it’ll have any effect on the Grand Prix itself.”
Comments on Russell –
Horner: “Not really. I mean, Toto’s 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 fitted a set of Hards onto the car when he’d asked for a set of Mediums and expressed his displeasure for the tyre choice that they’d put on the car. I’d get fined if I were to repeat the language that was used [then] in this press conference. So look. Obviously, a lot has been said. We know Toto likes to talk a lot, but that’s the way it is. I think for us, we just want to finish the season on a high, have a great race, see these guys battle it out, and hopefully everybody then can have a well-earned rest after this race.”
Old wounds of 2021 –
Horner: “I really don’t know. I mean, it needs to be about what you do on the track. I mean, there’s a sort of a love-hate relationship, where I think Toto loves to hate me. It’s one of those things. I would have assumed he sort of got a bit more on his plate with, you know, obviously it’s Lewis’s last race for that team. And, yeah, I think they should be celebrating that rather than focusing on other aspects.”
Comments from Wolff –
Horner: “Well, look, I love terriers. I think they’re great dogs. And I’ve had four of them. I had a couple of Airedales, which are the king of the terriers. I had a couple of West Highland terriers, called Bernie and Flavio. And the good thing about a terrier is they’re tremendously loyal. I mean, Bernie, he was an aggressive little dog. He’d go for anybody. And Flavio, he was a bit more chilled out. He probably ate a bit too much as well. But look, I think to be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing? They’re not afraid of having to go at the bigger dogs? I’d rather be a terrier than a wolf, maybe.
“We’re definitely having a go on the Toto theme today, aren’t we? Well, in answer to your question, first of all, Max does nothing but tell the truth. So I believe 100% what he said to be accurate. Of course, there’s other people in those Steward rooms as well. And they also came back and reported that they were quite surprised at the, if you like, the approach that was taken. Regarding Toto’s other comments, I’m not going to rise to the bait of that. Everybody manages themselves and their teams in different ways. We’ve won 122 races. We’ve won 14 world championships. I think we’re doing alright.”
Here’s George Russell, Toto Wolff bearing it all
Here’s George Russell on Max Verstappen
Here’s Max Verstappen, Christian Horner on George Russell
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