Christian Horner has hit out at long-time rival Toto Wolff (Image: Getty)
has accused of ‘coming after him while he was down’ during the ‘inappropriate behaviour’ scandal that erupted back in February. The team principal also poked fun at his rival over ’s departure to .
Relations between Horner and Wolff have always been fragile and reached boiling point during the 2021 campaign when Hamilton and slugged it out for the title. The two teams have rarely been rivals since, but the two team principals have continued to take jabs at each other in the media.
Ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix, Wolff told The Guardian that all team principals besides Horner offered their support to his wife, Susie, after the F1 Academy chief was investigated by the FIA over the alleged passing of sensitive F1 information to her husband, the team principal.
Firing back at Wolff, Horner told the : “Toto sent me a text message at the end of last year to say thank you for standing up for Susie today and showing them that there is a red line and the teams are together. And I said, ‘No problem, I said what I believe’.
‘So why he needs to go and say all that s*** this week, I have no idea. I was a little surprised to see his comments because he thanked me for his support. I have not said one word. I have not risen to Zak’s bait. I have not risen to Toto’s bait.
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Toto Wolff prodded at Horner earlier in the Las Vegas weekend (Image: Getty)
“I’ve had him chasing our drivers. I have had them chasing our sponsors. I have just thought ‘Let them get on with it’. I think Toto has got more than enough of his own issues to be focussed on with his own team’s performance rather than worrying about me.”
Horner couldn’t resist a dig at his rival over Hamilton’s departure to . The seven-time world champion caught Wolff by surprise when he revealed that he was leaving for Fred Vasseur’s team, despite other paddock sources being privy to the information.
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He later added: “In the issues that affected me at the start of the season, what I was disappointed with the most – and I have been in the sport a long time now – was the way that some of the rival teams looked to take advantage. When I was down, Toto came after me. So did others. They tried everything, for their own gain.
“It is a competitive business and I get it. Toto had lost his driver to a month earlier and he was telling the world that wasn’t happening. He seemed to be the last person to find out about it. People use whatever tools they can. It was to be expected, I suppose, from the people involved.”