Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has called Red Bull rival Christian Horner a “yapping little terrier” and called out his accusations about the mental state of his driver George Russell.
As the row between Russell and Max Verstappen over the Qatar grid penalty escalated ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix on Thursday, Wolff has further ramped things up by declaring his disproval of remarks that Horner made after the race.
Amid the fallout of the stewards hearing which has triggered the controversy, Horner accused Russell of triggering the one-place grid penalty for Verstappen through ‘hysterics’.
Speaking to media, Horner said: “I think the penalty was more based on hysterics from George, who has been quite hysterical this weekend.”
But Wolff is far from impressed about what Horner said, and suggested the Red Bull boss crossed the line in making a personal criticism of his driver.
“This is a thing between drivers, this is George and Max, and I don’t want to get involved in that,” said Wolff, who joined Russell’s regular media session in the Yas Marina paddock on Thursday.
“But if the other team principal calls George hysteric, this is when he crosses a line for me.
“He is not into intellectual psychoanalysis, but that is quite a word. How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver.”
Wolff also remarked that Horner was nothing more than a "yapping little terrier" as he suggested that Verstappen was only acting that way because he had been allowed to do what he wanted at Red Bull.
He reckoned the fact that Horner was always fully supportive of everything Verstappen did was not the right approach for a team boss to have.
“As a team principal, it's important to be a sparring partner for your drivers, and that means explaining that things can be more nuanced,” added Wolff.
“Statements that are absolutistic, thinking that everything is either 100% right or 100% wrong, it's something I think needs to be more nuanced, depending on your perception and your perspective.
“You need to allow for something to be 51/49, you need to allow it to be 70/30. So there's always another side.
“And maybe when you look at it that way and you explain it to your drivers and to your team, you come to the conclusion that there is truth on both sides. If you don't do that, you're falling short of your role. It's just weak.
“And, at the end, why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come? Yapping little terrier. Always something to say.”
Russell believed Verstappen acts as he does because he has never been challenged off of the track.
“I think he has been enabled because nobody has stood up to him,” explained the Briton. “Lewis stood up to him in 2021, and Lewis lost that championship unfairly.
“Could you imagine the roles being reversed and Max losing that championship in the manner of which Lewis lost that championship? [Michael] Masi would be fearing for his life.
“Some of the recent incidents he has been punished and [also] punished himself, like Mexico with the reckless overtakes, and Budapest with the reckless overtake.
“It is just in the past that he has such a dominant car that he has not been in this position.
“I think the FIA are pretty on it now and I don’t think much needs to change from their viewpoint because he is going to punish himself one way or the other.”
