Toto Wolff immediately hits back at Christian Horner with response to 'foolish' comment
Mercedes and Red Bull are involved in an ongoing dispute after Christian Horner openly suggested he was interested in poaching driver George Russell from their rivals
by Felix Keith · The MirrorMercedes boss Toto Wolff has branded Christian Horner a “s*** stirrer” after he said Red Bull were interested in signing George Russell.
Red Bull are searching for a new driver amid speculation over the future of Max Verstappen and with Sergio Perez underperforming this season. Russell has been impressing with Mercedes since joining from Williams two years ago and has caught Horner’s eye because his current contract expires at the end of the 2025 season.
The speculation is swirling around the two Formula 1 teams and things came to a head at the Singapore Grand Prix over the weekend, when Horner openly stated his position. “We just want to take time to consider what those options look like for the future – and we’re not afraid to go out of the pool,” he told Sky Sports F1.
“George Russell is out of contract at the end of the next year. It would be foolish not to take that into consideration. There are other talented drivers that could well be out of contract as well.”
Wolff gave Horner’s comments short shrift when asked about them. “Christian is always trying to stir s*** up,” he said. “It’s part of the game. George is a Mercedes driver, has been forever and hopefully will be forever. We have a long contract with him.”
Russell is seventh in the standings at present, one place behind his Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton and one ahead of Red Bull’s Perez, after he finished fourth in Singapore. The 26-year-old Brit won at the Austrian GP and picked up podium places in Canada, Azerbaijan and Spain.
He is just one of the potential options being assessed by Red Bull, who can call upon a whole host of talented youngsters. Having churned through the likes of Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and Pierre Gasly in the past, they are not afraid of chopping and changing.
HAVE YOUR SAY! Who will Red Bull go for to fill that seat? Comment below.
Horner was quizzed on the subject by Sky Sports’ Martin Brundle on the weekend – and gave an illuminating answer. “It is a very good question,” said Horner ahead of qualifying in Singapore. “We have given a great opportunity to many young drivers, some who you mentioned there. The Red Bull system does demand performance and does demand results.
“Of course, Max is delivering. Checo has been underperforming this year, but last year he did a good enough job to finish second and win us the Constructors’ Championship.
“We need to look further down the road, we have got some great talent. We have got Liam Lawson on the bench. We are not quite sure, looking at the likes of [Franco] Colapinto, [Oliver] Bearman and [Kimi] Antonelli, is he at that level? Time will tell.”
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