VIDEO: Wolff not amused by Horner's Verstappen jibe

VIDEO: Wolff not amused by Horner's Verstappen jibe

Originally written by Joas van Wingerden. This version is a translation.

Friday 23 November 2018 16:53

The Toto Wolff death stare almost burned a hole in the back of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix media room after Christian Horner tried to lighten the mood by jibing the Mercedes boss over his junior driver Esteban Ocon's role in denying Max Verstappen a victory in Brazil.

Ocon's attempts to unlap himself at Interlagos fell flat as both drivers were pitched into a spin – denying Verstappen a certain victory and preventing the Force India man from pushing towards a points finish.

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Verstappen was furious after the race, shoving Ocon in the weighing room – later claiming that the Frenchman refused to apologise to him when confronted.

The furore continued to Abu Dhabi, where Verstappen refused to back down over his actions and offered advice on how to race to Ocon as the pair were seated a few feet away from each other in Thursday's press conference.

At Friday's meeting of team principals, Horner and Wolff were sat at the table, with the Red Bull chief trying to lighten the mood when Ocon's 2019 plans were brought up – the Frenchman will serve as Mercedes' reserve driver, having seen his Force India drive taken away by Lance Stroll's likely arrival from Williams.

Let's just say, it didn't go down well…