Christian Horner says he was “surprised” to see recent comments from Toto Wolff regarding short-lived allegations made about his wife Susie Wolff last year.

Susie and Toto Wolff found themselves at the centre of a short-lived investigation over allegations regarding the potential sharing of information between a FOM employee and an F1 team boss.

Toto Wolff: All, except for Christian Horner, were ready to sign in support

The investigation, which was quickly dismissed, has been brought up by the Mercedes F1 team boss in an interview with the UK’s Guardian this week, in which the Austrian said his Red Bull counterpart had been initially reluctant to sign a document showing support for Mrs Wolff.

“I can take lots of s**t,” Mr Wolff said of the investigation and the fall-out, which was brought about as a result of his wife’s involvement as F1 Academy’s managing director.

“I’m used to it.

“But if your wife is being dragged into a conflict she has nothing to do with, and her reputation is immaculate, that’s where the fun stops.

“But the response was great. I didn’t make a single phone call to any team. Fred [Vasseur, Ferrari boss] took it into his hands and said: ‘This is just so unfair.

“From Guenther Steiner [former Haas team principal] to James Vowles [Williams boss], everybody jumped on to this.

“They were all ready, but for Christian, to sign a document in our support.

“As far as I understand it he said: ‘I’m having my own Sky interview and I’m going to say I’m not part of it. I’m not signing the document.’

“The other nine teams said: ‘Fine.’

“But, obviously, he was advised that wouldn’t look great and he should be part of the statement.

“In the second iteration, he tried to get the word ‘official’ in the statement. He wanted a note to say that no one [among the team principals] officially complained to the FIA.

“The other teams said: ‘Fine. We do our declaration and you do your own.’ At the end, he signed it.”

With Wolff suggesting Horner was the only team boss to show reluctance in showing his support for Susie, it has shone a spotlight, once again, on the tense relationship between the duo.

Wolff and Horner are well-known for having an uneasy relationship as team bosses of the Mercedes and Red Bull teams, with that relationship becoming particularly tense during the 2021 title fight as the pair sniped at each other through the media.

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Horner has maintained a low profile this year in terms of interviews following an internal investigation by Red Bull GmbH into allegations of inappropriate behaviour in his role – an investigation which was quickly dismissed and, afterward, Horner was exonerated once again following a separate KC investigation after an appeal from the complainant.

Speaking to the UK’s Daily Mail, Horner addressed Wolff’s comments and said he had been surprised to see what the Austrian had alleged.

“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’,” Horner explained.

“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 [Brown, McLaren boss] bait. I have not risen to Toto’s bait. 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 took the opportunity to point out the “horrible run” Mercedes has had since the start of the current ground effect regulations, in which the Brackley-based squad has been unable to join in the fight for titles, although 2024 has seen both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton take grand prix victories.

“They have had three very uncompetitive years, by their own standards,” Horner said.

“Lewis [Hamilton] has decided to leave the team. Perhaps he doesn’t believe in the future that was presented to him and probably needs that revitalised motivation that the challenge at Ferrari will offer him and it will be fascinating and great for Formula 1 to see him do that.

“But I try never to take satisfaction out of other people’s misfortune. This sport is cyclical. After 2013, we did not have a competitive engine but every year we were winning races and we were still punching above our weight, bar one year in 2015. When you are not delivering a team, the less you say, the more you focus on sorting your own issues out, is usually a better way of going about things.

“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 Ferrari 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.”

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