Remember the time Mercedes was on top of the world and no one could seemingly reach their dominance? Toto Wolff quickly became known as the team principal who could never be pressured. But that would all change in 2021. After enduring a season of intense battles with Max Verstappen and Christian Horner, the Austrian would finally buckle under the pressure from Red Bull in the penultimate race of F1’s greatest season in recent memory.

Before heading into the title decided in Abu Dhabi, tensions had already reached an all-time high between Mercedes and Red Bull. Both teams had been accusing each other of foul play during races and off-track as well. This boiling pressure would result in Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton coming together in Jeddah, which led to Toto Wolff losing his cool and smashing his headphones. Horner recently opened up on this on the Secrets of Success podcast.

Christian Horner believes he would not have succumbed to the pressure that made Toto Wolff buckle

During the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Verstappen had been ordered to let Lewis Hamilton by. But there seemed to be a lot lost in translation, as The Dutch Lion swerved to slow down and let Hamilton by, but it resulted in the pair colliding. While the RB19 got away unscathed, Hamilton’s W16 sustained significant front-wing damage, sending Toto Wolff into a frenzy.

What followed was Wolff’s frantic reaction to the incident – the Mercedes boss was unfortunately caught on camera furiously screaming and slamming his Bose headphones to ease the frustration. While the headsets survived the incident as Wolff could be seen wearing them later, the man partly responsible for Mercedes’ misery felt he could never do the same.

Sitting down with former England captain, Nasser Hussain for the Secrets of Success podcast, the Red Bull boss revealed his two cents on Wolff’s meltdown. When Hussain alluded to mind games, Horner chimed in, “I mean any sport is a mind game and when you see a counterpart losing it and smashing a set of headphones out, you think okay, you’re feeling the pressure. And if he’s feeling the pressure, everybody else around him is feeling the pressure, because pressure permeates from the top. I would never smash a set of headphones out.”

It seems evident from Horner’s thoughts that Wolff’s outburst had worked in Red Bull’s favor, as they now knew they had the upper hand in the mental chess game. While we’ve seen a lot more anger from Toto Wolff, especially towards his table, Horner reinstated that he would never be caught doing the same. He shared, “Internally. But you know, everybody is different. Internally I would have felt and mentally I would have smashed those headphones just as hard as him. But I just wouldn’t have done it, you know, physically. I think just, everybody is different.”

Horner made it clear that Wolff’s approach to voicing his frustrations was not a route he would take himself. While many Mercedes fans would think the Milton Keynes boss is being too harsh, Horner believes he’s only being honest.

Christian Horner thinks being ‘Best Mates’ with Toto Wolff would be ‘dishonest’

Horner and Wolff have been the two most dominant team principals over the past decade. After all, since 2010, only Wolff and Horner have led their side to the title. While there’s a mutual respect that arises from being colleagues, Horner can’t forget that they are rivals first. When Nasser asked Horner about his relationship with the Mercedes boss and how things have changed since 2021, the answer was rather straightforward.

Horner shared, “Toto, I have a huge amount of respect for everything that he has done and achieved. But we’re competitors. I’ve never been a believer that you can be the best mate with your competitor. I think it’s dishonest. I want everybody in my team to see that whoever we’re racing against is the competition, that’s who we’re there to compete with and as a team that we’re united.”

Heading into the 2024 season, it’s certain that Christian Horner has the upper hand and isn’t feeling a lot of pressure. On the other hand, Toto Wolff is now met with another ghastly obstacle which was left behind by the woeful W16. Unlike 2021, both the team principals’ objectives will be vastly different this season. While Horner is hard at work maintaining their dominance, Wolff and Co. are running out of time to put up a challenge in 2024.

It’s safe to say that despite sharing the top of the Pinnacle of Motorsport, there’s been some love lost between the two since their rivalry turned into the 2021 drama. But once the dust is settled, will Christian Horner and Toto Wolff eventually make amends?

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