The best enemies of the paddock reach out to each other. Friday December 10, at a press conference, Toto Wolff, boss of the Mercedes team, and Christian Horner, his counterpart at Red Bull, gave each other a frank handshake to “wish good luck for this decisive weekend“. A symbolic gesture as the two men have not stopped throwing spikes throughout a season that their respective foals, Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, will conclude this Sunday, December 12, on the Yas Marina circuit in Abu Dhabi.
Jean Todt keeping the peace between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner # F1 #SaudiArabianGP pic.twitter.com/fAiglAohd3
– Motorsport.com (@Motorsport) December 5, 2021
The cordiality of the image is therefore deceptive, like this photo taken in the presence of Jean Todt, president of the FIA (International Automobile Federation), after the crazy Grand Prix of Jeddah last weekend. “There is only Jean Todt to have the courage to stand between the two of us“, was then fun Christian Horner. This joke betrays a form of truth: the Briton and his counterpart Toto Wolff do not appreciate each other and do not hide it since the start of the season.
The leaders’ fight, the one that is played not on the asphalt but in the paddocks, will therefore come to an end after an escalation that has lasted all year. Never had we seen two team managers shine so much light on a Formula 1 season. “There have always been charismatic bosses, Frank Williams, Ron Dennis or Jean Todt. But they have never been as prominent as Wolff and Horner are, who are quite comfortable in front of the cameras, not to say they seek out the light.“, explains Julien Febreau, commentator of Formula 1 on Canal + from Abu Dhabi.
In recent years, with Mercedes’ hegemony in the discipline, Wolff had spared himself these quarrels. The retirement taken in 2016 by Nico Rosberg, Hamilton’s a little too serious rival in the Mercedes team, had even granted him a certain form of tranquility. Between Wolff and Horner thus resided a form of indifference: the latter struggled to put his team back on top while the former did not care about Red Bull, as Hamilton did not care about Verstappen, as long as the young Dutchman was not as fast as the seven-time world champion. The situation has changed this season. Mercedes finds itself hooked by Red Bull, who plays it, like its flagship driver, always at the limit.
If “Dirty Max” is on the circuit, “Dirty Christian” gives him unwavering support from the paddock. Christian Horner knows it: to unbolt a monument, here Mercedes, seven times in a row world champion of manufacturers and pilots, no means can be excluded. The boss of Red Bull, winner of four constructors ‘and drivers’ titles with Sebastian Vettel (2010, 2011, 2012, 2013), is revenge. “Horner picked up a project when he was in trouble, before pushing it up. And when he talks about Wolff, he describes a man who got a top team back and only had to deal with that.”, explains Julien Febreau.
The Red Bull boss feels that 2021 may be the year of renewal. With his team and sports advisor Helmut Marko – never stingy in salty outings against Mercedes – Horner worked to weaken the Mercedes building. And the strategy worked. The Wolff-led team have made a number of unusual mistakes this season, which have kept Verstappen and his RB16B in the race for the title. But Wolff was not born overnight.
The boss of Mercedes was able to respond by playing it finely, by denouncing via Lewis Hamilton, “the fin very flexible” of the Red Bull drivers’ single-seater before the Spanish Grand Prix in May. At the end of October, he denounced to the Daily Mail Horner’s attempts to destabilize: “We go back to our roots in a way, in the spirit of Bernie Ecclestone (former boss of Formula 1, editor’s note), when F1 was a soap opera. And if the show on the track was not thrilling enough, Bernie always had a shocking statement to talk about. But I won’t get drawn into this little game. “, tempered the Austrian.
Last week in Jeddah, however, Wolff let his anger burst, exasperated by Verstappen’s maneuver which had damaged Hamilton’s fin. “On the side de Wolff, maybe there is this mind-set that they are Mercedes, a global manufacturer, and that it would hurt them to get beaten up by can sellers. “, argues Julien Febreau, to explain the tension on the side of the German team.
Like a Monday morning #RDVauLastVirage #MondayMotivation pic.twitter.com/GNjzRvBUJU
– CANAL + F1® (@ CanalplusF1) December 6, 2021
“I know them well, I have a lot of sympathy and respect for them both. They are two great team bosses. They are different profiles.“, explained Cyril Abiteboul, former director of the Renault team, at Franceinfo: sport Start of the week. Before continuing: “Toto is much more Latin, Christian is much more scathing with very, very cold, brutal anger. It’s beautiful to see these moments. It’s a psychological battle over a year, with the FIA or the media. . “ This season, both Wolff and Horner will have increased media outlets and discussions with the race marshals in an attempt to have an impact on their decisions.
Since the very hot Grand Prix last week, the fear is that the title will be played out in the office of Michael Masi, Formula 1 race director, along with Horner and Wolff. And if the latter have taken a liking to be in the light as never this season, the two bosses have both said in recent days that they would prefer to avoid this scenario.
It may be the only time of the year that the two men have come to an agreement. And the tension is not about to subside. “It’s impossible to have a peaceful relationship because there is so much at stake. Everyone is trying to stand up for their team. I think we will regain respect for each other after the championship, whoever wins “Wolff explained Wednesday. And to conclude: “Maybe in the future we can laugh about it, but not today.”