‘That’s just stupid’ – Toto Wolff responds to Christian Horner press conference comments

Christian Horner and Toto Wolff

Toto Wolff has declared Christian Horner is “talking nonsense” after the Red Bull team boss questioned Mercedes’ “motives” in trying to sign Max Verstappen during a fiery press conference in Austria.

Long-time sparing partners, this year’s championship has seen Horner and Wolff trade barbs over Verstappen with Mercedes publicly courting the triple World Champion despite his long-term Red Bull contract.

Christian Horner and Toto Wolff’s latest war-of-words

The back-and-forth over Verstappen’s future seemed to be resolved on Thursday when the Dutchman said “yes”, he would be a Red Bull driver next season.

Horner responded to that by saying: “Obviously a lot of noise has been made about him going elsewhere and sometimes one just thinks that’s a distraction tactic that’s just thrown in.

“You have to question what are the motives obviously behind that and the driver that’s created all the movement in the market had all the information about the engines and 2026 regulations and so on and chose to leave and left a vacancy at Mercedes, which is why there has now been obviously a little bit of speculation as to who will fill that seat, but it won’t be Max Verstappen.”

However, when Wolff was asked about Verstappen’s “yes”, he told OE24: “Did he really say that? I don’t think he clearly said yes. But I wasn’t there.”

Horner was asked during the press conference for his thoughts on Wolff’s response and said: “That’s a question you’d have to ask Toto.

“I thought Max was pretty resolute in what he said in this conference yesterday. He’s always been absolutely consistent with that with the team.

“So, yeah, why Toto? I think it’s purely a tactic of distraction. Of course, if he does want a Verstappen for next year, then I guess Jos is potentially available.”

More on Red Bull’s latest off-track drama

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Wolff did not appreciate Horner’s comments.

“I didn’t hear that at all,” he told Sky Deutschland. “That’s just stupid. He’s talking nonsense.”

Told about Horner’s comment that he can sign Jos Verstappen if he wants a Verstappen, the Mercedes team principal sarcastically replied: “That’s not bad either.”

As for the Austrian’s desire to sign Max Verstappen to Mercedes, Wolff concedes that to get the best drivers, Mercedes must first design the best car.

“The most important thing is that we look at our performance,” he said. “If we have a fast car, then fast drivers will also want to drive for us. But we have to improve.

“Then we will be a good haven for a Max Verstappen. But at the moment we are not fast enough.”