Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has told Red Bull rival Christian Horner to “be humble”, after the Red Bull team principal stated that Lewis Hamilton approached the Austrians earlier this year.
Ahead of this weekend’s season finale in Abu Dhabi, Horner informed the Daily Mail that a “representative” of Hamilton’s had approached him earlier in the season, regarding a potential switch to the Milton Keynes-based team.
Red Bull have since told the BBC that the supposed individual was Hamilton’s father, Anthony, who hasn’t been part of the Mercedes driver’s management team since 2010.
When asked about Horner’s comments and whether there was any truth behind them, Hamilton insisted that “no-one” from his team had contacted Red Bull.
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Wolff was also asked about what Horner said, with the Austrian having revealed to the media what actually happened.
The Mercedes boss explained that it was Horner who contacted an agency that Mercedes work with to get Hamilton’s contact details, with Wolff insisting that it was the Red Bull boss who wanted to start talks.
According to Wolff, Hamilton did then have an “exchange” with Horner, something which Wolff was “immediately” told about by the team’s star driver.
However, their discussion supposedly had nothing to do with a potential switch to Red Bull, something Horner has stressed will never happen as the “dynamic” wouldn’t be right between Hamilton and Max Verstappen.
What’s annoyed Wolff, though, is that he doesn’t understand why Horner has revealed the story in the first place ahead of the last race of the season, given that the Austrians have already won both titles.
Wolff has urged Horner to “be humble” and also hit out at him for making comments about the controversial 2021 season finale during a recent appearance on Sky TV show ‘A league of their own’.
“I just don’t know what drives the guy,” Wolff told select media, as reported by PlanetF1.com.
“We don’t understand his thinking to come up with these things.
“What happened is that Christian, through an agency that we work with, wanted to have his contact details to speak about the seat.
“That’s how the whole thing went, [it] was Christian inquiring into his availability.
“Lewis had an exchange with Christian – which he immediately told me about, which was not about a seat, but it was just… blah.
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“I’ve seen it. So I don’t know what drives him to come out with this. You’ve won the season. Be happy about it, [be] humble. Enjoy it.
“Don’t make comments about Abu Dhabi 2021, which are completely off the mark,” Wolff sighed. “…and character question.
“I just wonder what’s going on up there.”