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Wolff, Horner

Wolff-Horner sniping distracting from "gladiators" Hamilton and Verstappen

Wolff, Horner — Photo: © LAT Images

Wolff-Horner sniping distracting from "gladiators" Hamilton and Verstappen

"It’s not about the team and never has been"

Former F1 driver Johnny Herbert believes Mercedes and Red Bull team principals Toto Wolff and Christian Horner have made the sport "too much about them".

In last year's thrilling battle between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen, for almost every moment of excitement witnessed on the track, there was another on the pit wall between Horner and Wolff.

This was in part down to the decision to publicly broadcast radio exchanges between the teams and the FIA.

Speaking to Betway Insider, Herbert explained: "From my side, it’s a distraction.

"The conversation now always seems to be about the teams, whereas actually, it’s not about the team and never has been. That has become a little muddled recently.

"The teams were so entwined with that finale to last season, in terms of their complaints to the race director and the press, that it has become too much about them.

"When we think back to classic races, we remember the winning drivers, not the teams. The drivers have always been the big draw, I think, for race fans.

"The gladiators that they are on the racetrack mean that we see sensational races week after week. That’s the deal."

For the coming season, radio transmissions between the FIA and the teams will no longer be broadcast after it was widely accepted the move was a step too far.

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