Mercedes’ Toto Wolff has labelled Christian Horner a ‘yappy little terrier’ in an explosive press session at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

An extraordinary media talk ahead of this weekend’s race at the Yas Marina Circuit saw Wolff spring to the defence of his driver George Russell as he labeled his Red Bull counterpart “a yappy little terrier”.

Toto Wolff on Christian Horner: ‘Yapping little terrier’

A war of words has broken out in the past few days, following a qualifying incident last weekend in Qatar between Mercedes’ George Russell and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen.

The on-track incident resulted in a one-place grid penalty for Verstappen, with the Dutch driver unimpressed by what he saw as dishonesty from Russell in how he presented his case to the stewards in Qatar.

This has led to an escalating back-and-forth between the two drivers, with Verstappen stating that he has “lost all respect” for the British driver, while Christian Horner said labeled Russell’s efforts to get Verstappen penalised as “hysterical”.

In the driver’s press conference on Thursday, Verstappen doubled down on his stance, branding Russell’s behaviour in front of the stewards as duplicitous.

“I just never expected someone to really try and actively get someone a penalty that badly and lying about why I was doing what I was doing,” he said.

“But clearly, it had an influence to them. Yeah, it was just really not nice and actually very shocking what was going on there.”

Horner’s labeling of Russell as “hysterical” appears to have incensed Toto Wolff, with the Austrian appearing beside Russell during the driver’s media briefing at Yas Marina on Thursday.

With Russell addressing the incendiary comments from Verstappen, the Mercedes driver was asked whether he believes Verstappen has been “enabled” by those around him, seemingly referring to Christian Horner and the management of Red Bull.

“As a team principal, it’s important to be a sparring partner and, for your drivers, that means explaining that things can be more nuanced,” Wolff answered in place of Russell.

“Statements that are absolutistic, thinking that everything is either 100 percent right or 100 percent wrong, it’s just something I think you need to explain. Think more nuanced, depending on your perception and your perspective.

“You need to allow for something to be 51/49, you need to allow it to be 70/30 so there’s always another side.

“Maybe, when you look at it that way, and you explain it to your drivers and to your team, you come to the conclusion that there is truth on both sides.

“If you don’t do that, you fall short of your role. It’s just weak.

“Why does he [Christian] feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come?”

Wolff gazed out into the assembled journalist to conclude his thought with a stern expression as he carefully enunciated and emphasised the words: “Yapping little terrier.”

“Thinking about it, spending 90 seconds to think about it… always something to say.”

Wolff made it clear that his focus is on Horner’s involvement in the situation, as he said the feud between Russell and Verstappen is “between them”.

“I don’t want to get involved in that but, if the other team principal calls George hysteric, this is where he crosses the line for me,” he said.

“Now his thought, for sure, is not intellectual psychoanalysis, but that’s quite a world. How dare you. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.”

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