Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff scolded his Red Bull counterpart, Christian Horner, after a quick conversation.
Wolff and Horner have been at loggerheads ever since the British GP. Horner was in prime rant mode after Silverstone, and has been launching verbal attacks on Mercedes whenever he gets the chance. Unfortunately for him, something worse happened at the Hungarian GP, where a Mercedes driver took out one of his.
After Wolff finished his interview with Sky Sports, it was Horner’s turn. Before Christian could start, the two bosses had a quick chat. At the end, just as Wolff was leaving, he turned and scolded Horner, saying, “Be friendly!”
No love lost
Horner laughed off the statement from Wolff, and proceeded to carry on with his media duties. However, the icy statement from Wolff gives the impression that there is real tension between the two men. Given what happened on track between Mercedes and Red Bull in the last two races, tensions will only have escalated.
Horner spoke about the Hungarian GP, where Red Bull bottomed out again. He addressed the role Mercedes played in messing with their fortunes as well.
“Unfortunately, the result for us is that (Bottas) eliminated both of our cars,” Horner said sternly.
“I think unfortunately, you saw Valtteri make a poor start. He obviously misjudged his braking, and he’s done a great job for Mercedes in taking out both of our cars. A significant amount of damage, lost another engine with Sergio and then Max was hugely compromised,” he concluded.
Horner’s salty statements come in the wake of Red Bull having to deal with a massive wage bill after the two races. It was made worse by the fact that the damage was so significant that their drivers might have to serve grid penalties at the Belgian Grand Prix.
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