Christian Horner and Toto Wolff have been dragged into the drama between their respective drivers Max Verstappen and George Russell.
The Red Bull and Mercedes drivers exploded into conflict at the Qatar Grand Prix after Verstappen was given a one-place grid penalty for impeding Russell in qualifying by going ‘unnecessarily slowly’ during a cooldown lap.
Verstappen was seen in an angry exchange with Russell before the race – which the Dutchman went on to win – and their feud continued into the stewards’ room. Russell alleges that Verstappen had threatened to deliberately put him into the wall and encouraged other drivers to stand up to the four-time champion, labelling him a ‘bully’.
Verstappen denied these comments and accused the Brit of lying to the stewards. Verstappen even joked that he would go flat out during cooldown laps from now on and look to crash into others.
The drama between the two drivers looks to have reignited the fierce rivalry between Red Bull and Mercedes – although the alleged crash threat exchange was not filmed by the Drive To Survive cameras. Naturally, the team’s bosses got involved, with Horner calling Russell ‘hysterical’ over trying to get Verstappen penalised.
Christian Horner tells Toto Wolff to focus on Lewis Hamilton’s last race with Mercedes more than anything else
Wolff felt Horner ‘crossed the line’ with his comments about Russell, calling him a ‘yapping little terrier’ as he interrupted the Brit’s press conference at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
And the Red Bull boss has responded to the Austrian’s swipe, telling him to concentrate on a more pressing matter for Mercedes in Abu Dhabi.
The 2024 season finale sees the final time Lewis Hamilton will race for the Silver Arrows before he completes his move to Ferrari next year.
READ MORE: Seven best drives of Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes career ahead of Ferrari move
Hamilton and Mercedes will go down as one of the greatest partnerships in F1 history, winning six of his seven drivers’ titles with the team between 2014-2020 and becoming the most winningest driver of all time.
For Horner, this is far more important for Wolff than the feud between Verstappen and Hamilton’s teammate Russell and the 51-year-old thinks the Mercedes boss ‘should be celebrating’ rather than attacking him.
“It’s all about what happens on the track,” he said in the team principal’s press conference on Friday. “There’s obviously a kind of love-hate relationship – Toto loves to hate me! That’s just the way it is. I thought he had enough to do anyway. It’s Lewis’ last race for the team. I think they should be celebrating that rather than concentrating on other things.”
What do the FIA have to say about the Verstappen-Russell feud?
The conflict between Verstappen and Russell sets up a dramatic finale in Abu Dhabi and is certain to create an interesting battle in 2025 with Red Bull and Mercedes’ rivalry firmly back at its old heights.
Verstappen’s comments about wanting to crash into Russell is a serious threat and, if these are true statements, it would be fair to assume that these would be investigated.
However, the FIA is not currently planning on investigating Verstappen’s comments, leaving the situation in some uncertainty as to how or when it will be resolved.
Martin Brundle thinks the FIA should get more involved in the matter, also stating that he can’t understand how the drivers are ‘best mates’ and race against each other aggressively on the track.
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