"What he says is ..."

This is how Wolff counters Horner’s Verstappen provocation

No longer friends: Toto Wolff (left) and Christian Horner (center). To the right: Helmut Marko.

(Bild: APA/AFP)

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has countered a point made by the Red Bull team boss in his skirmish with Formula 1 rival Christian Horner. "What Horner says is actually entertainment," said the Viennese ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.

On Friday, Horner had responded to Wolff's constant courting of world champion Max Verstappen, who had previously explicitly committed to the Austro racing team for 2025, with a sarcastic statement.

"Jos probably available"
"If he wants a Verstappen for next year, then Jos is probably available," said Horner, referring to Max Verstappen's father. For Wolff, who still has a vacant cockpit next to George Russell after the departure of Lewis Hamilton to Ferrari at the end of the season, the 26-year-old Verstappen junior would of course be a more than suitable alternative.

"My job is to help ensure that this team is fast and works. Of course, this also includes which driver sits in the car," Wolff explained the flirtations with the Verstappen camp.

Max Verstappen and Toto Wolff

(Bild: EPA)

In any case, his relationship with the Verstappen family is good. Despite a difficult phase after the 2021 Silverstone Grand Prix, when Hamilton and Verstappen crashed. "Jos and I are on the same wavelength and simply always had a good relationship," emphasized Wolff. It was never the case that the two of them didn't have the same mindset. "We had different views and perspectives," explained Wolff, whose relationship with the father of the Red Bull world champion was smoothed over after just a few months.

Marko? "I can see that this is already affecting him"
Wolff also maintains a respectful relationship with his compatriot and Red Bull motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, who once discovered Verstappen and is one of the Dutchman's success factors as a mentor. "I've got on well with Helmut privately in recent years. But we talk just as much or just as little as we did back then," said Wolff, but also noticed a change in the 80-year-old Styrian's mood. "I can see that he is affected by the fact that this team no longer has the identity it used to have."

Helmut Marko

(Bild: AFP/GETTY IMAGES/CLIVE ROSE)

Following the death of company founder Dietrich Mateschitz in October 2022, a power struggle is said to have broken out at Red Bull within the Formula 1 team and the Group. The relationship between Horner and Jos Verstappen has also been deemed to have broken down since the spicy affair surrounding Horner at the beginning of the year, when the 50-year-old was accused of inappropriate behavior towards his former assistant.

Verstappen demanded Horner's resignation, as the team would otherwise run the risk of being "torn apart." Since then, the surprising departure of star designer Adrian Newey has already taken place.

Oliver Mintzlaff

(Bild: Getty Images/APA/Getty Images via AFP/GETTY IMAGES/Mark Thompson)

Meanwhile, a new Managing Director, Oliver Mintzlaff, has been responsible for sporting matters at the energy drink manufacturer since November 2022. "At the beginning, I thought that Mintzlaff was brought in because he can run this company with an iron fist, so to speak," said Wolff.

"Decisions are made elsewhere"
With regard to the decisions in the Horner affair - the RB team boss was exonerated following an internal investigation by a lawyer - Wolff was no longer so sure. "The decisions that are made there are made elsewhere. I believe that they already wanted this Horner story to be handled as it probably should have been - and that didn't happen."

Wolff also initially got on well with Mintzlaff. "We had a few conversations," said the 52-year-old. However, since an interview in the Bild newspaper at the beginning of May, when Mintzlaff criticized the Austrian's attempts to poach Verstappen ("That's not proper"), there has been no more contact between the two.