Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner believes Toto Wolff is “plotting” away in the background to restore his Mercedes side to Formula 1 title contention.
Horner and Wolff were engaged in a war of words throughout a titanic 2021 campaign that saw their respective teams go head-to-head for both championship titles.
However, Mercedes has been unable to provide a match to Red Bull since the regulations were overhauled last year, only taking a solitary victory compared to the Austrian camp’s total of 32 from 38 races.
But Horner is aware of the strength in depth Mercedes possesses and expects the German marque will be working away tirelessly to stop Red Bull’s rampant run.
Expanding on his relationship with Wolff in an interview with Sky Sports, Horner said: “For me sport is about rivalry. It’s great to have rivalry. There has to be a respect, but sport isn’t sport without rivalry.
“Obviously we haven’t seen much of him the last couple of years but I’m sure he’s plotting. I’m sure he’s got something that they’re working on.
“They’re a great team. They are a big team. They have got great drivers. They’ll be looking to fight back.”
Red Bull’s previous reign of supremacy between 2010-13 was brought to an end by the introduction of turbo-hybrid engines ushering in an era of Mercedes dominance.
Although Mercedes notched an unprecedented eighth Constructors’ title in 2021, Max Verstappen’s narrow victory over Lewis Hamilton curtailed the Brackley-based operation’s stranglehold on both trophies.
Having since reclaimed the teams’ championship last year, Horner admitted: “It hurts when you’re losing and if it doesn’t hurt then you shouldn’t be doing it.
“We had a long period, six to seven seasons, of hurt, of being the bridesmaid. But we never lost sight of where we wanted to be. We were the team to break that [Mercedes] domination, and everything goes in cycles.
“At some point somebody will beat us.
“Now, whether it’s Mercedes, or Ferrari, or McLaren, or Aston Martin, or whoever, we don’t know. But all we can control is what we’re doing. So that’s what we’re focused on, is ourselves.”
After Red Bull sealed the Constructors’ Championship with a record six rounds to spare in Japan, Verstappen can secure the Drivers’ title this weekend in Qatar.
With a 177-point advantage over team-mate Sergio Perez, the Dutchman only requires three points in Saturday’s Sprint Race to be crowned a three-time World Champion.
Asked how he portrayed winning a title before the main event takes place on Sunday, Horner responded: “We don’t care when we win it – as long as we win it.
“It’s about getting that trophy, getting that third title to his name. The fact that it’s done in Qatar on a Saturday evening would make Sunday even more enjoyable to go into that grand prix, if he achieves it, as a three-time World Champion. So I don’t think it really matters.”
Pressed on whether Verstappen could potentially go on and eclipse Hamilton and Michael Schumacher’s shared F1 benchmark of seven titles, Horner cautioned that “eight is a huge amount of distance away”.
Instead, Horner proclaims that Verstappen is entirely focused on the present and winning the remaining races this season.
“There are not many drivers with more than three [titles]. You’ve got Sebastian [Vettel], Alain Prost, [Juan-Manuel] Fangio, Michael Schumacher and Lewis Hamilton,” he noted.
“It’s a pretty select club he’ll enter when he wins his third world title.
“For him, he’s just an out-and-out racer. I know he’s proud of what he’s doing and achieving, but he’s forward-looking. He’s not rearward looking and I think that for him it’s about the next race.
“There is still six races to go this year and I know he’s motivated to try and win all of them.”
