The interview room is often set for fireworks if Toto Wolff and Christian Horner are ever paired together for a press conference, as the pair can often be found making subtle digs and jibes at each other.
In charge of Mercedes and Red Bull respectively, Wolff and Horner have very different approaches to running a Formula 1 team, with the Red Bull boss even referring to Wolff as more of a ‘numbers guy’ than himself.
Horner will often respond to Wolff’s quotes by trying to wind the Austrian up, attempted to get into the head of the Mercedes boss, who has been known to explode from time to time.
Despite the constant back and forth between the pair, Horner has claimed that there is no personal issues between himself and Wolff, simply claiming that he finds it easy to affect the Austrian.
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“It’s not personal in any way! Toto is Toto,” the Red Bull boss told Sky Sports.
“He’s done a phenomenal job with Mercedes. He’s obviously come into the sport from a very different background to me, he’s very much from a financial background.
“It’s very easy to pull his chain, and you can see it. Sometimes if affects him. So of course, when you’re competing, and last year [2021] was so intense and of course, it was the first time he’d ever been in that situation, it’s always interesting to see how people react.
“And when they’re smashing headphones and so on, you can see that you got to them.”
The Red Bull boss has recently joked that there is little chance that all the team principals will go out for dinner together, like the drivers did in Abu Dhabi to celebrate the career of Sebastian Vettel.
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The Brit suggested that there would be certain people who would not speak to each other, such is the high-pressure nature of their jobs.
There will be a few new bosses in the paddock in 2022 that Horner will have to become acquainted with, as Andrea Stella takes the reins at McLaren while Mercedes strategy director James Vowles moves to Williams.
The only remaining vacancy is at Alfa Romeo, with no replacement for Fred Vasseur announced yet following the Frenchman’s move to Ferrari.