Red Bull chief Christian Horner takes vicious dig at Mercedes ‘tax exile’ Toto Wolff

Lewis Hamilton refuses to let 2021 season ‘define’ his career

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Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has aimed a vicious dig at his Mercedes counterpart, Toto Wolff, as mind games hit full steam ahead of next weekend’s 2022 F1 curtain-raiser. Horner and Wolff will renew their rivalry in Bahrain, but the former is already trying to get under the latter’s skin.

The 2021 season was one of the most memorable in recent history as Mercedes’ era of dominance was threatened by Red Bull.

Horner’s team provided a stern challenge in the constructors’ championship but couldn’t do enough to prevent the Silver Arrows from securing an eighth successive title.

But with Mercedes finishing on 613.5 points, just 28 ahead of Red Bull, there are hopes the competition will be just as fierce this year.

And after getting the last laugh via Max Verstappen toppling Lewis Hamilton as drivers’ champion, Horner has continued to pluck at Wolff over the off-season and in the build-up to the Bahrain Grand Prix.

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The 48-year-old has described himself as a workhorse compared to Wolff, who he claims is a ‘tax exile’ for spearheading Mercedes remotely from his home in Monaco.

He told the Daily Mail: “We are very different. If I’m not at the racetrack, I’m in the factory. I’m not living as a tax exile in Monaco, running a team remotely.

“I am hands-on. My diary is full from the moment I arrive to the moment I leave, dealing with issues within the team. I have very much an open-door policy.

“I grew up in the sport. I was a race driver that turned my hand to running a team. I’m a racer at heart. Toto has come from a very different background.

“He has a financial background and is very driven by what the balance sheet says. Results dictate that performance.

“Does he share the same passion as a racer? I have no idea. Will he be here in 10 years’ time, or will he have cashed in and be on his superyacht? I have no idea.”

Horner and Wolff’s relationship has always been strained as the team principals of F1’s two most prominent teams in the world title race of late.

And the events in December’s Abu Dhabi Grand Prix only added further fuel to the fire that is their rivalry at the rankings summits.

But Horner believes Mercedes have used ex-F1 race director Michael Masi as a scapegoat for their own poor strategy, which led to Max Verstappen stealing the world title from Lewis Hamilton’s grasp.

“The reality was Michael Masi didn’t break their own rules. Mercedes had all the same strategic options available that we did,” Horner explained.

“They made a mistake strategically not pitting Lewis at the virtual safety car but then expecting him to be able to defend on 44-lap-old tyres.

“He was always going to be massively exposed by the team electing to leave him out despite the fact he was questioning that call.”

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