F1 winner takes aim over Horner Wolff 'warfare' hype

Former F1 race winner David Coulthard had revealed he is "uncomfortable" by the media hype surrounding the rivalry between Red Bull Team Principal Christian Horner and Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff.

The duo's rivalry sparked into life during the fiery 2021 championship battle between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, which the Red Bull driver ultimately won after a controversial final race in Abu Dhabi.

Throughout that campaign, Horner and Wolff aimed a number of verbal digs at each other and the animosity has supposedly continued since, given what has been seen in Netflix docuseries Drive to Survive.

'It's not warfare'

But former championship runner-up Coulthard has taken aim at media coverage of the rivalry, suggesting all is not as it seems.

Speaking on his and Eddie Jordan's Formula For Success podcast, Coulthard said: “Sometimes I get a little bit uncomfortable with this sort of build-up in the media, the battle between Mercedes and Red Bull, or let’s say more, I guess between Toto and Christian,” he said.

“I was actually quite happy to see Geri Horner [Christian’s wife] snuggled up, cuddled up to Toto and Christian there [in a picture] and our great friend Anita Gerhardter from Wings for Life, all smiling and in a happy place.

“Because at the end of the day, it’s competition, it’s racing, but it’s not warfare.”