Rival F1 boss CALLS OUT Christian Horner and Toto Wolff

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

F1 News & Gossip

Rival F1 boss CALLS OUT Horner and Wolff

How will the pair respond to the challenge?

Originally written by Rhys Thomas. This version is a translation.

Wednesday 14 August 2024 18:00

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

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

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This 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 not being called out by one another, but by another team boss.

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

Toto Wolff's is CEO and team principal at Mercedes

Horner and Wolff challenged by McLaren boss

On 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.

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

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 has recently kept his skills sharp racing his two drivers, Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, in Mercedes cars.

Horner's racing 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. 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.

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.

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Mercedes Formula 1 McLaren