F1: 'Horner and Wolff want to kill each other'

–by Mark Cipolloni–

Christian Horner has accused Mercedes of not handing back the real Constructors’ Championship trophy in a bizarre dig at their title rivals.

Mercedes had claimed the previous eight back-to-back crowns since the start of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014. Speaking on Red Bull’s own ‘Talking Bull’ podcast, Horner suggested Mercedes had only handed back a replica of the real prize.

He explained: “It has to be returned to the FIA for them to inscribe whoever is going to be the next winner. You get to keep a replica. Is it a replica? That’s the big question. Who has the real one?”

Podcast host Nicola Hume suggested the trophy was likely the real one as someone had to bring the trophy into the team with gloves on. Horner added: “But what do the FIA have at the end of the year? Do they have the replica or do they have the real one? How do you know it’s the real one?”

When asked if the Red Bull held the real cup or a fake, Horner quickly responded: “It’s probably a Mercedes replica.” The latest remarks come just weeks after Haas boss Guenther Steiner recently suggested the two team bosses “want to kill each other”.