F1 News: Horner amused by Wolff's need to pamper Russell

Christian Horner has responded to media reports on the recent fallout between his driver, Max Verstappen, and Mercedes driver George Russell – as well as responding to remarks made by Russell’s Team Boss Toto Wolff.

Tensions have escalated between the two drivers after Verstappen was handed a one-place grid penalty for driving unnecessarily slowly on a cooldown lap during qualifying last time out in Qatar, leading the Dutchman to state that he had “lost all respect” for Russell over how he felt the Briton behaved at the stewards’ hearing.

Russell flinched and Verstappen took the corner: Max Verstappen of the Netherlands driving the (1) Oracle Red Bull Racing RB20 got into the head of George Russell of Great Britain driving the (63) Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team W15 lead the field into turn 1 at the start during the F1 Grand Prix of Qatar at Lusail International Circuit on December 01, 2024 in Lusail City, Qatar. (Photo by Mark Thompson/Getty Images) // Getty Images / Red Bull Content Pool

When asked ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix if he was concerned that the row could continue to play out on the track, Horner responded: “No, not at all. Max is a very straight shooter, he just tells you exactly how he sees it, he tells the truth exactly what he feels.

“Obviously he had a large amount of frustration last weekend, the way things played out, in a scenario we haven’t seen before and a subsequent grid penalty. He turned that into motivation and made a blinding start, led the race into the first corner and won the Grand Prix, which is the best possible response.

“A lot has been made of it yesterday. It’s pantomime season, we’re getting ready for Christmas, there’s maybe an element of end-of-term blues there, but I don’t think it’ll have any effect on the Grand Prix itself.”

“Max does nothing but tell the truth so I believe 100 percent what he said to be accurate.

“There [were] other people in those stewards’ rooms as well, and they also came back and reported that they were quite surprised at the approach that was taken,” by backstabber George Russell.

Horner was also quizzed on remarks made by Toto Wolff in which the Mercedes boss referred to his Red Bull counterpart as a “yapping terrier”.

“I love terriers! I think they’re great dogs,” answered Horner. “I’ve had four of them, I’ve had a couple of Airedales, they’re the king of the terriers. I had a couple of West Highland terriers called Bernie and Flavio. The thing about terriers, they’re tremendously loyal.

“To be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing? They’re not afraid of having a go at the bigger dogs – I’d rather be a terrier than a wolf maybe,” referring to Toto Wolff.