{"id":373517,"date":"2026-03-30T20:23:14","date_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:23:14","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/373517\/"},"modified":"2026-03-30T20:23:14","modified_gmt":"2026-03-30T20:23:14","slug":"toto-wolff-says-christian-horner-may-find-formula-one-return-hard-to-come-by","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/373517\/","title":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff says Christian Horner may find Formula One return hard to come by"},"content":{"rendered":"

Toto Wolff has cast doubt over Christian Horner\u2019s return to Formula One by claiming his rival could be dealing with the \u201crepercussions\u201d of having \u201cbroken a lot of glass\u201d in the sport.<\/p>\n

Horner, 52, is exploring a way back to the paddock after he was sacked as Red Bull team principal following last July\u2019s British Grand Prix.<\/p>\n

Horner said he has \u201cunfinished business\u201d in a sport where he oversaw eight world drivers\u2019 championships and six constructors\u2019 titles.<\/p>\n

\"MercedesToto Wolff has questioned whether Christian Horner will return to Formula One. Photo: Bradley Collyer\/PA.<\/p>\n

However, Aston Martin have recently closed the door on a move for Horner \u2013 with Jonathan Wheatley lined up for the beleaguered British team \u2013 while Wolff and Mercedes are now actively looking at buying private investment firm Otro Capital\u2019s 24 per cent shares in Alpine.<\/p>\n

The Enstone team confirmed in January that Horner was among a group of investors interested in acquiring the same stake.<\/p>\n

In an interview with the Press Association, Wolff said: \u201cHe (Horner) has broken quite a lot of glass, and these things have repercussions in our microcosm. When you say things\u2026 but that is what he has done all his life, and that is what he knows best.<\/p>\n

\u201cUs looking at that stake is in no connection with Christian. And the idea that there is a rivalry between Christian and me around who buys an Alpine stake is made up. It would be quite sad if that was a consideration of doing such an investment or not.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are looking at it from different angles, and we haven\u2019t come to any conclusions. We want to know whether it makes sense.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"PierreBoth Horner and Wolff are exploring a 24 per cent stake in Alpine. Photo: Bradley Collyer\/PA.<\/p>\n

Wolff\u2019s rivalry with Horner shaped F1 for much of the past decade as Mercedes and Red Bull fought on the biggest stage.<\/p>\n

The last 18 months of Horner\u2019s trophy-laden tenure came amid accusations of controlling behaviour by a female colleague. Horner was twice exonerated of the claims.<\/p>\n

And Wolff, 54, continued: \u201cI am in two minds about it (Horner returning to F1). The sport is missing personalities. And his personality was clearly very controversial and that is good for the sport.<\/p>\n

\u201cI said to (Ferrari team principal) Fred Vasseur that it needs \u2018the good, the bad, and the ugly\u2019. And it is now only the good and the ugly left. The bad is gone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWould I consider that he could ever be an ally or someone that shares objectives? I don\u2019t think so.<\/p>\n

\"ChristianChristian Horner oversaw all four of Max Verstappen\u2019s world championships (David Davies\/PA)<\/p>\n

\u201cBut even when I had the biggest frustration, and anger with him, you need to remind yourself that even your worst enemy has a best friend so there must be some goodness.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf there wasn\u2019t that competitive rivalry over so many years, and if there was more water down the river, I am sure I could have had hung with him over dinner and a had a laugh.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"One<\/p>\n

Sport<\/p>\n

One thing after the other \u2013 frustrations build for George Russell in Japan<\/p>\n

<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cOver those years it was just too intense, too fierce, and things happened which even today I cannot comprehend why he has done them.<\/p>\n

\u201cI don\u2019t know if he is finding his way back, and in which function. I certainly don\u2019t wish him bad. And we need to give each other credit. There are not many team principals who have done what he has done.<\/p>\n

\u201cI see a situation that whatever happens, whatever outcomes there may be, whether he comes back to Formula One or not, I am at ease with it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Toto Wolff has cast doubt over Christian Horner\u2019s return to Formula One by claiming his rival could be…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":373518,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9],"tags":[61,60,112],"class_list":{"0":"post-373517","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-sports","8":"tag-ie","9":"tag-ireland","10":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373517","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=373517"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/373517\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/373518"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=373517"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=373517"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=373517"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}