Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has claimed that Christian Horner \u201coften behaved like an a**hole\u201d during his time in charge of Red Bull.<\/p>\n
And he believes the former Red Bull chief operated to a \u201ccompletely different\u201d set of \u201cvalues\u201d to his rival team bosses.<\/p>\n
Toto Wolff: Christian Horner was \u2018controversial and divisive\u2019 during Red Bull tenure<\/p>\n
Horner was sacked by Red Bull last month after more than 20 years in charge, with Racing Bulls boss Laurent Mekies installed as his replacement as chief executive and team principal.<\/p>\n
Horner stands as one of the most successful F1 team bosses in history having led Red Bull to six Constructors\u2019 titles and eight Drivers\u2019 Championships \u2013 split evenly between Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen \u2013 since his appointment in 2005.<\/p>\n
Horner\u2019s final years at the helm were defined by a bitter rivalry with Wolff as Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, then of Mercedes, battled for the title in 2021.<\/p>\n
Toto Wolff now the longest-serving F1 boss after Christian Horner sack<\/p>\n
\ud83d\udc49\u00a0F1 team principals: How long has each team boss been in charge?<\/a><\/p>\n \ud83d\udc49\u00a0How to become an F1 driver: Money, dedication, talent and more<\/a><\/p>\n Hamilton was famously denied a record eighth title at the controversial 2021 decider in Abu Dhabi as Verstappen secured the first of four consecutive World Championships.<\/p>\n Wolff has argued that Horner conducted himself \u201clike an a**hole\u201d for most of his Red Bull tenure, with the 51-year-old operating to a different set of standards compared to his rival team principals.<\/p>\n Yet the Mercedes boss has conceded that the F1 paddock is a poorer place without Horner whose impact, he believes, was as \u201csignificant\u201d as that of a successful driver.<\/p>\n He told Hungarian publication Formula.hu<\/a>: \u201cWhat do I think [of Horner]?<\/p>\n \u201cWell, that over the last 12-15 years, he has often behaved like an asshole.<\/p>\n \u201cHe operates according to completely different values, but even the greatest enemy has a best friend.<\/p>\n \u201cOn the other hand, he was extremely successful in what he did.<\/p>\n \u201cNow that he\u2019s gone, at least for a while, a real personality has left the sport.<\/p>\n \u201cHe was controversial and divisive, but he was one of the main characters here. We can safely say that he was as significant as a great driver.<\/p>\n \u201cLooking at it purely from an F1 perspective, I don\u2019t think there are many old-style team boss dinosaurs left here.<\/p>\n \u201cMaybe just me. Maybe Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari team principal] is a bit of a dinosaur too!\u201d<\/p>\n Asked if it is significant to him that the battle between himself and Horner is remembered as fondly as some on-track rivalries, including Verstappen vs Hamilton in 2021, Wolff added: \u201cYes.<\/p>\n \u201cIf you look at it, it really has always been an interesting story.<\/p>\n \u201cThose years, but especially 2021, weren\u2019t just about Max and Lewis, but also about Christian and me.<\/p>\n \u201cWhat\u2019s more, it was really difficult at times \u2013 and that\u2019s in every history book and always will be.\u201d<\/p>\n Wolff went on to quip that he will have to find a new sparring partner in Horner\u2019s absence, adding: \u201cHe always said that I loved to hate him.<\/p>\n \u201cSo who should I hate now? It looks like I\u2019ll have to find someone else\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n Wolff\u2019s comments come just weeks after Zak Brown, the McLaren chief executive, claimed that meetings between team bosses will be \u201chealthier\u201d with Horner no longer involved<\/a>.<\/p>\n Brown said of F1\u2019s political battles during Horner\u2019s Red Bull tenure:\u00a0\u201cIt went too far.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s always going to be politicking in F1 \u2013 let\u2019s try and shut down their flexi-wings and that stuff \u2013 but when you start getting into frivolous allegations, that\u2019s just going too far.<\/p>\n \u201cIf I look up and down the pit lane now, I see us fighting each other hard politically, but the line is not being crossed \u2013 and that line got crossed before.<\/p>\n \u201cI think that we\u2019ll see a little bit of a change for the better.<\/p>\n \u201cThere\u2019s a higher level of trust that now, if we sit down and have a conversation on a topic where we think there could be some confidentiality, and it\u2019s just not an automatic: \u2018I\u2019m going to use that as a political weapon.\u2019<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to be in a better place, a little bit more unified and a little bit more trusting that while we\u2019re fighting on track, we can have a conversation about what\u2019s good for the sport off it and that won\u2019t get manipulated for political reasons and taken out of context.\u201d<\/p>\n As reported by PlanetF1.com<\/a>, Horner severed his ties to Red Bull last week when he was removed as a director of both Red Bull Racing and Red Bull Technology Limited, officially bringing an end to his tenure.<\/p>\n The 51-year-old was spotted on holiday in Croatia last week<\/a> in his first public appearance since his departure was announced in the aftermath of last month\u2019s British Grand Prix at Silverstone.<\/p>\n Horner is widely expected to pursue a team-ownership-style position<\/a> when he eventually mounts a return to F1, potentially in a similar role to that held by Wolff, who owns a third of the Mercedes team.<\/p>\n