Horner on Wolff rivalry and smashing headphones: 'Dishonest' to be best mates

Horner and Wolff’s relationship has been one of the most analysed and documented in recent F1 history, with the pair publicly sparring several times and regularly engaging in a war of words.

Tensions reached boiling point during Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen’s fierce season-long title battle in 2021 as Mercedes and Red Bull went head-to-head for both world championships. 

Although the rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull has since cooled, Horner and Wolff still cannot resist the urge to aim the odd barbed remark towards one another.  

Asked what his relationship with Wolff was now like on Sky’s new Secrets of Success documentary, Horner told Nasser Hussain: ”Toto I have a huge amount of respect for everything that he has done and achieved.

"But we're competitors. I've never been a believer that you can be the best mate with your competitor. I think it's dishonest.

"I want everybody in my team to see that whoever we're racing against is the competition, that's who we're there to compete with and as a team that we're united.”

Asked the same question about Horner, Wolff simply responded: "He's a good team manager.

"But it's very different personality and very different values to what we have here in the organisation. But he's still successful.”

Horner also referenced one of the images that defined the 2021 season as Wolff was seen smashing up his headphones in reaction to Hamilton and Verstappen’s dramatic collision at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix. 

The Red Bull boss questioned Wolff’s style, suggesting it is not the best way to manage an F1 team. 

"Any sport is a mind game but when you see a camp part losing it and smashing a set of headphones up you think 'OK, you're feeling the pressure'. And if he is feeling the pressure, then everybody else around him is feeling the pressure, because pressure permeates from the top,” Horner explained. 

"I would never smash a set of headphones up. Internally I would have smashed mentally those headphones just as hard as him but I just wouldn't have done it physically. I just think everybody is different."