Toto Wolff has described Christian Horner as a "yapping little terrier" as the war of words between George Russell and Max Verstappen took a further twist.
The feud started in Qatar when Verstappen was stripped of pole by stewards after being deemed to have driven unnecessarily slowly and blocked the Mercedes - being handed a one-place grid penalty.
This promoted Russell to pole, but Verstappen muscled past and went onto win - but he claimed that he had lost all respect for Russell for his conduct in the stewards room to get the Red Bull driver penalised.
Red Bull boss Horner felt Russell was "hysterical", with Verstappen even calling Russell a liar when asked about the incident in Abu Dhabi.
In return, Russell claimed that Verstappen felt he was "above the law" and that he had threatened to "put me on my fucking head in the wall" at Turn 1 in Qatar.
Mercedes boss Wolff then, unusually, joined Russell in his traditional media session at Yas Marina - launching an attack on Horner for his comments and handling of Verstappen in general.
"As a team principal, it is important to be a sparring partner and for your drivers, that means explaining things that can be more nuanced and statements that are absolutistic in thinking that everything is either 100% right or 100% wrong," Wolff told media including RacingNews365.
"It is just something I think you need to explain, thinking about nuance, depending on your perception and your perspective - you need to allow for something to be 51-49, you need to allow it to be 70-30 as there is always another side.
"You need to explain it to your drivers and to your team, and you come to the conclusion that there is truth on both sides and if you don't do that, you are falling short of your role. It is just weak.
"Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver, but if you spend 90 seconds to think about it, [he is] a yapping little terrier, there is always something to say.
"It is a thing between drivers, this is George and Max and I don't want to get involved in that, but if the other team principal calls George hysteric, this is where he crosses a line.
"His quality for sure is not an intellectual in psychoanalysis, but how dare you? How dare you comment on the state of mind of my driver?"
Also interesting:
Join RacingNews365's Ian Parkes, Sam Coop and Nick Golding, as they look back on a chaotic Qatar GP and look ahead to the season finale in Qatar. Max Verstappen's feud with George Russell is a key discussion, as is Lando Norris' penalty. Comments made by Toto Wolff on the FIA are also looked into.
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