Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff candidly admits that he will miss the recently dismissed Christian Horner ‘in a certain way’. According to the Austrian, the ‘polarizing’ Brit was one of the key figures in Formula 1. Wolff believes that Horner may reappear in the premier class, although he hopes his former rival will not work for the FIA.
Before Christian Horner’s dismissal from Red Bull, the Brit and rival Toto Wolff were the two team bosses with the most experience in Formula 1. The two occasionally clashed, with Wolff even referring to the Brit as a ‘yapping terrier’ last December, yet the Austrian will somewhat miss his rival.
“In a certain way, I will definitely miss him, yes,” Wolff admits to Sky Sports F1. “He was truly one of the key figures. However, I don’t think he is gone from Formula 1 forever, he can certainly reappear in another role. I should actually be careful, because he could just show up at the FIA, and then I’m really in trouble,” the Austrian jokes.
Wolff’s Praise for Former Team Boss
Wolff also had some words of praise for the former team boss. “He was someone who was controversial, polarizing, and anything but soft. This was certainly good for the entertainment factor of the sport and from that perspective, he will be missed. His record speaks for itself,” said the Mercedes team boss.
Door Ajar for Verstappen?
In addition to discussing the future of his former rival, Wolff also spoke about the future of his own team. In particular, the future lineup at Mercedes has been a popular topic for speculation recently. However, Wolff clarified once again: “At this moment, I would like to continue with Kimi and George Russell. Anything else is not realistic. If you have a Russell-Max Verstappen lineup, for example, it would be like Prost-Senna.” Alain Prost and Ayrton Senna were teammates and rivals at McLaren in 1988 and 1989.
Nevertheless, Wolff still leaves the door ajar for Max Verstappen. “The chances are high, although nothing is one hundred percent certain, that this (Russell and Antonelli) will be the lineup next year.”
