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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner recently spoke about his relationship with Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff. Both have been among the longest-standing principals for their respective teams and have won many world championships.
While Toto Wolff has dominated the sport with Lewis Hamilton, Christian Horner has done so with Sebastian Vettel and currently with Max Verstappen. They also fiercely competed with each other during the 2021 F1 season, when their top drivers were engaged in an intense battle for the world championship.
Speaking to talkSPORT, Horner explained how the rivalry and tense relationship between him and Wolff are natural since their teams are competing against each other. Horner is well aware that Wolff will try everything in his power to make Mercedes perform better than its rivals. He said:
“It’s part of sport; it’s part of competition, and he’s incredibly easy to pull his chain. So that’s part of rivalry; that’s part of sport, isn’t it? There has to be a competitive rivalry. It’s not a garden party.
“We’re there to compete; we’re there to win, and every member of the team knows that, and the team that wants to beat us the most are the ones that are just up the road.”
Furthermore, the Red Bull chief was questioned whether there could be any sort of friendship between the two. In response, Horner denied the concept of two team principals being friends.
He stated that has massive respect for and a good professional relationship with the Mercedes team boss. However, Horner believes that two highly competitive team principals can't have that kind of relationship. He concluded:
“I’ve never been a believer in that [team principals being friends] because he’s trying hard to beat us and we’re trying to ensure that we stay ahead of him, and so I don’t see, whilst there has to be respect. I don’t see some form of false friendship. For me, it’s unrealistic.”
Christian Horner feels Red Bull's rivals could narrow the gap between them in the 2nd half of the 2023 F1 season
As the 2023 F1 season's second half begins, reigning world champions Red Bull have already fixed almost half of their focus on their 2024 F1 car. Hence, Christian Horner feels that other teams, who are still improving their 2023 F1 cars, could close the gap on Red Bull much more quickly. He said (via formulapassion.it):
“The next races? For us, there is already a lot of work aimed at next year, because we have very little time to use in the wind tunnel. So maybe you will see the other teams getting a bit closer in the second part of the season, because we don't have as much time to devote to development."
The RB19 has been so quick that Red Bull is comfortably leading both the drivers' and constructors' championships. Several other top teams like Ferrari, Mercedes, Aston Martin, and even McLaren are still trying to catch up with them.
