Horner teases Wolff over racing career: ‘I raced, Toto took part’

Red Bull team boss Christian Horner has poked fun at Mercedes’ Toto Wolff over their early racing careers.

While the duo are more well known for their management of two of the most successful teams in F1 history, they both dabbled in racing many years ago.

Horner raced in various categories such as British Formula Two and Three as well as Formula 3000, but opted to focus on team management towards the end of the 1990s.

Having decided to quit his racing career some 25 years ago, Horner was asked if he wished he was competing in F1 as a driver.

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“Absolutely not,” he told the Financial Times. “I got as high as Formula 2 but I recognised that the skill of the driving as cars get more and more powerful… you realise the risk that’s involved and having the ability to disconnect your head and heart from each other is sometimes quite difficult.  

“I recognised that my talent that I had was relatively modest and I wasn’t prepared to take the risks. There was a self-preservation that was built in and thought ‘this is just stupid’ when there’s a barrier there and you can actually really hurt yourself. 

“So I knew at that point that it was time to stop but when I see the level that these guys are at now, it’s insane.  

“[With] Max [Verstappen] even during the race on Sunday, he’s watching the TV as he’s as he’s driving around, he’s commenting on what’s going on in the race and then he starts having an argument with his race engineer about ‘have you have you checked the front wing for the medium tyre at the next stop?’

“And his engineer went back to Max [saying] ‘you drive the car and let me do the engineering’ so the capacity that they have to operate whilst running at these incredible speeds is quite phenomenal.”  

Wolff also dipped his toes into racing in categories such as the Austrian Formula Ford Championship and endurance events.

Horner teased Wolff over their racing careers, suggesting that the Austrian driver simply “took part” in competitions.

“Well obviously, I raced and Toto took part,” he laughed. “Of course it gives you an insight into the emotions that a driver goes through and some of the challenges.  

“It’s quite a lonely place sitting in that cockpit and you want to feel that the team believes in you, that they’ve got your back and that inspires confidence.  

“I think for me that was a key thing that I took out of my driving time and having driven for good teams and not so good teams, it was all about the people in the end.”