F1 Drive to Survive

Toto Wolff mocks Christian Horner after F1 rival was booed at fan event

Sam Cook Wednesday 25 February 2026 09:57

Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff can be seen mocking his former F1 rival Christian Horner during the eighth series of Drive to Survive.

The eighth season of Netflix's docu-series about F1 is set to hit the streaming platform on February 27, and it will showcase the 2025 F1 season, in which we saw an enthralling three-way title battle.

Drive to Survive started filming behind-the-scenes footage of F1 back during the 2018 season, and it has become a huge global phenomenon, with this year expected to be no different despite the fact the number of episodes has been reduced by two.

It appears as though the first episode is going to focus somewhat on the F175 launch event that we had at the beginning of last season, where all teams and drivers descended on the O2 Arena in London for a season launch to celebrate F1's 75th birthday.

All of the teams unveiled their car liveries in one evening, while key team personnel spoke to the crowd at the event.

Former Red Bull boss Horner, however, did not receive a warm welcome at the O2 Arena, being booed by fans despite the event being in his home country.

And this seemed to surprise then-Red Bull driver Liam Lawson during Drive to Survive, with the New Zealander claiming: "Mate, how, in London?"

Wolff seemed to be enjoying the booing a little more, though, lightheartedly claiming: "It didn’t help that he [Horner] went up there on stage like, ‘I’m going to rock the room,’ and they rocked him."

Horner v Wolff F1 rivalry

Wolff and Horner were long-time team principal rivals at Mercedes and Red Bull respectively, fighting for several world championship titles and constantly looking to get ahead of one another.

That rivalry was arguably at its most heated during the 2021 season, when Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen from the opposing teams battled hard for the drivers' championship, with Red Bull and Verstappen eventually coming out on top.

But Horner and Wolff's war of words continued on beyond then, despite Red Bull going on to dominate the sport with Mercedes lagging behind post 2021.

Some of their most heated discussions have actually been documented via previous seasons of Netflix's Drive to Survive, with season five playing host to the iconic 'change your f****** car' rant from Horner towards his Mercedes counterpart.

That rivalry has now ended - or at least paused - after Horner was axed from his position as Red Bull team principal after 20 years last July, following a period of poor performance for the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

F1 Red Bull Mercedes Christian Horner Toto Wolff Drive to Survive