F1 principals Christian Horner and Toto Wolff called out by McLaren boss

Toto Wolff and Christian Horner at F1 Testing — Photo: © IMAGO

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Horner and Wolff CALLED OUT by rival F1 team boss

How will the pair respond to the challenge?

Rhys Thomas

Thursday 15 August 2024 18:57 Updated: 19:22

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Formula 1 team principals Christian Horner and Toto Wolff have been challenged by a fellow F1 boss.

The pair, who are leaders at Red Bull and Mercedes respectively, have been known for their strained and often tense relationship in recent years.

F1 HEADLINES: Horner ENDS team tensions as Verstappen revealed number one team choice

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The team tensions peaked in 2021 as the two sides fought bitterly for the constructors' and drivers' championships, with Mercedes edging out the team battle, but Max Verstappen and Red Bull pipping the Silver Arrows and Lewis Hamilton to the drivers' title.

This time around, though, Horner and Wolff are not being called out by one another, but by a rival team boss instead.

Christian Horner has become more accustomed to life on the pit wall at Red Bull

Toto Wolff has experienced the highs of F1 at Mercedes with Lewis Hamilton

Horner and Wolff challenged by McLaren boss

McLaren Racing CEO Zak Brown is the man laying down the gauntlet to the pair this time around.

On social media platform X, he semi-seriously challenged his fellow team bosses to a race to discover which of himself, Horner, Wolff, and Williams team principal James Vowels was the fastest driver in response to images of all four in racing gear, posted by the official F1 account.

Whilst the quartet are used to managing an array of drivers, they all have experience behind the wheel of a racing car themselves.

I think we need to find out who’s fastest ! ?
— Zak Brown (@ZBrownCEO) August 13, 2024

Brown raced professionally for a decade, including in IndyCar feeder series Indy Lights (now Indy NXT) and British F3, and continues to take part in historic events such as the Grand Prix de Monaco Historique and the upcoming Estoril Classics weekend.

Wolff's racing career never quite took off either, though he has recently kept his skills sharp by racing his own two drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in Mercedes cars.

Horner's own on-track ambitions curtailed at the F3000 stage in 1998 as he struggled for speed and steel against his rivals. His recent experience in Sebastian Vettel's RB8 at Goodwood was the first time he has driven a single-seater since then.

Vowles, meanwhile, may be at a disadvantage, having taken the educational rather than racing route into motorsport initially. His Masters' degree in Motorsport Engineering and Management has served him superbly throughout his distinguished career, but it may not hold as much value in the cockpit. However, he took the chance to show off his potential behind the wheel in a similar circumstance to Horner, also at Goodwood earlier this year.

Whether a race between the four team bosses will materialise remains to be seen. It would certainly make for some entertaining on-track action and, inevitably, the accompanying off-track trash talk.