SPOTLIGHT: WOLFF CLAIMED RED BULL POWER UNIT WOULD BE “COMPLETELY S***” – HORNER

Christian Horner lobbed another grenade at Toto Wolff, claiming the Mercedes boss dismissed Red Bull's power unit project as "completely shit" before it delivered its first win as Red Bull-Ford. The jab came during Horner's book-promotion tour, reigniting the rivalry between F1's two most combative principals.

Horner built Red Bull's engine program after Honda withdrew in 2021 and Mercedes refused to supply units. He framed Wolff's skepticism as fuel, and suggested McLaren's Zak Brown can't challenge Wolff because his team runs Mercedes engines. "Sport needs rivalry," Horner said, citing Ferguson-Wenger and Mourinho-Guardiola. "I used that to galvanise people to take on Mercedes."

He also walked back recent comments about eyeing Ferrari's team principal job, calling them "taken out of context." Whether the Ferrari talk was posturing or genuine, Horner's media tour gives him a platform to settle scores and shape narratives while Red Bull-Ford's new power unit does the real talking on track.