Christian Horner on leaving Red Bull: «Mercedes should be more worried about the 200 cars we took away from them»

Christian Horner fires back at his old rival Toto Wolf Photo: Rebecca Blackwell/Rebecca Blackwell

Christian Horner fires back at Toto Wolf in an ongoing war of words, says the Mercedes team boss should «focus on his problems» rather than try to cause problems for Red Bull.

Amid reports that Red Bull could face an attrition Team boss Red Bull added that in the last few years alone it has lured more than 200 people from the Mercedes engine plant in Brixworth. two people will potentially leave his team.

Horner remains under pressure off the track after being accused by a female colleague of controlling and coercive behavior. Although the 50-year-old was acquitted under an internal grievance procedure, the employee in question is appealing the verdict.

Both nemesis Wolf and Brown, who has increasingly become a thorn in Horner's side, have taken every possible action. opportunity to make his life difficult over the last few months.

Confirmation last week that star designer Adrian Newey is due to leave the team next year has given the duo further ammunition.

Over the weekend in Miami, Brown said Newey's departure would undoubtedly «destabilize» the world champions, predicting the 65-year-old was «probably the first domino to fall and I think not the last based on the resumes that fly around. We are seeing an increase in the number of CVs coming from the [Red Bull] team.»

Wolf, who continues to openly court Red Bull champion driver Max Verstappen, said he too has seen an uptick in Red Bull's CVs in recent weeks “at all levels [of seniority].”

Horner, however, denied claims of staff dissatisfaction and said Wolff and Brawn were simply using it as a distraction.

«It's inevitable,» he said after Max Verstappen extended his race lead. He finished second in the standings behind McLaren's Lando Norris. “You know the two candidates involved. They talk a lot. I'm not going to get into a tit-for-tat fight, but I would focus more on Toto's own problems that he has.

“I'm not worried about [our] strength and depth… of course there will always be movement between the teams.

“Mercedes, we've taken 220 people are moving from HPP [Mercedes High Performance Powertrains] to Red Bull Powertrains, so when we talk about losing people, I'm more concerned about 200 rather than one or two.»

«There are rumors about everyone,» Horner added when asked point blank whether he would stay on. team sporting director Jonathan Whitley. “Contracts between individuals and their terms are not something we really discuss [with] the public.”