Toto Wolff says he has no hard feelings towards Red Bull after Abu Dhabi

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has said that he doesn’t have any negative feelings towards Red Bull after the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

Red Bull’s management made unfriendly comments towards him and Mercedes after the latter lodged a complaint protesting Max Verstappen’s F1 title. Addressing Red Bull's comments, Toto Wolff, in an interview with the Independent, said:

“The statements at me certainly arose from the emotion. I can understand that when you have won the race and therefore the title, a protest can be frustrating."

He added:

“I have no bad word at all against Christian (Horner), Helmut (Marko), Red Bull, or Max (Verstappen). They were worthy competitors this year. We fought like never before, on and off the track, but in the end, they won the championship and that has to be acknowledged."

Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes lost their bid for the 2021 driver’s championship at the very last lap of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. A controversial decision from race control allowed Max Verstappen to clinch the title in the final lap.

In the immediate aftermath, Mercedes lodged two protests with the FIA stewards. They challenged the race results and demanded that the final classification reflect the grid order from the lap previous to the final lap. Both protests were subsequently thrown out.

Meanwhile, Red Bull special advisor Helmut Marko called Toto Wolff an “unworthy loser” for Mercedes’ protests. In an interview with the Austrian daily Österreich, Marko said:

"It was unworthy that the decision was delayed like that. But that says everything about the attitude of an unworthy loser.”

Marko believed that FIA acted in “good faith” and let both Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton race during the safety car restart.

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Toto Wolff claims the controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix result only “bind” Mercedes with their competitors

Toto Wolff says that while his team had to endure a “brutal result” in Abu Dhabi, the controversial circumstances only “binds” them more with Red Bull. He thinks it brings them together to create a better future where rules are clearer within the sport.

Speaking to the Independent, the Austrian said:

“I think that it also binds us (Mercedes and Red Bull) stronger together in the future. Because we may have lost the championship with the Abu Dhabi decision, but Helmut (Marko), Christian (Horner), and Max (Verstappen) are racers and we saw what happened."

Wolff added:

“And of course, there are the explanations that similar things happened against them in the season. Maybe it balances out, maybe not. But just the one decision in Abu Dhabi was so brutal, the racer in them will recognize that. I know that."

“Together I think we can change the rules to make the decision-making more conscious and that’s in the interest of us (Mercedes), Red Bull, and all the other teams."

Following the stewards' decision to reject their protests, Mercedes initially intended to take the matter to the International Court of Appeals. But following a week-long discussion with F1 and the FIA, Toto Wolff and his team decided to abandon the plans and to accept the results.

However, Mercedes have joined a large section of the F1 community in urging the FIA to ensure that a repeat of similar circumstances doesn’t happen in the future. Similarly, Toto Wolff believes that along with his competitors within the sport, including Red Bull, they can hold the FIA accountable for their actions.