A foul-mouthed row between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner was picked up by the Netflix Formula 1 Drive to Survive cameras in 2022. Mercedes struggled with porpoising in the early stages of last season, and were unable to find a fix - which features heavily in Episode 2 of the new series, which dropped globally on Friday. After the violence of it at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, an all-hands meeting of the 10 team bosses, plus F1 chiefs Ross Brawn and Stefano Domenicali was held in Canada. Wolff passionately called for changes, but Horner gave him a rather blunt retort. RacingNews365 was granted early access to the series, and you can read our review here.
Wolff and Horner row
Wolff was calling for technical changes to address porpoising - which were eventually waved through mid-season and then for the 2023 campaign. Below is a full transcript of what was said in the Montreal meeting, including comments from Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto. Wolff: I hear lots of chitchat, talking about porpoising, the Chinese whispers through the press, little emails being sent. I can tell you that all of you are playing a dangerous game. If a car ends the wall, because it is too stiff or it is bottoming out, you are in the s**t and I'm gonna come after you. Wait a second, I am talking. Horner: Are we playing to the cameras here? I think this is probably better off camera. Wolff: I don't care. If you think this is a little game on performance, I'll tell you, you are very, very wrong. Binotto: Safety is a matter of team responsibility, the braking system.. Wolff: Each of you has done something to limit the problem Horner: Toto Wolff: Congratulations Horner: Change your car. You've got a problem, change your f**king car. Wolff: Then you change your car because Checo has been saying the car is f**ked. Horner: No he hasn't, speak to my drivers! Wolff: Checo has been on the record Horner: Let's go and get him Wolff: I have it, I have it printed out. The row is then ended by Domenicali who promises both the FIA and F1 will discuss the issue "in the proper way."
Other bosses throw doubt
Other team bosses are seen to be giggling away during the meeting, including former McLaren boss Andreas Seidl, while some others believe the row was hyped up for the cameras. "I don't know if there was some element of showmanship going on there or not," observes Haas chief Guenther Steiner. "We were all accused that we want to hurt people, which we don't, by the way. We are not killers." Williams boss Jost Capito adds that it was "great sitting back, watching the drama, it was very entertaining" and that Wolff is "very competitive and can't stand losing."
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