Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has opened up on his relationship with former Red Bull manager Christian Horner.
Horner was mercilessly sacked mid-season after the British Grand Prix, ending his 20-year spell as team principal of Red Bull Racing.
Over the last decade, Red Bull and Mercedes have been rivals on and off the track, with Horner and Wolff being at the front of it. Now, the Mercedes boss has opened up on his rival for the first time since he was let go.
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Wolff was asked for his thoughts on Horner, to which he said: "What do I think? Well, he's been acting like an a*****e quite often in the last 12-15 years.
"He operates on completely different values, but even your worst enemy has a best friend.
"On the other hand, he was hugely successful at what he did. Now that he's gone, at least for a while, a real personality has left the sport.
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| GETTY"He was controversial and divisive, but he was one of the main characters here.
"You could safely say he was as significant as a great driver. If I look at it purely from an F1 perspective, I don't think there are many old-style team boss dinosaurs left here.
"Maybe just me. Maybe Fred (Vasseur) is a bit of a dinosaur too."
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Christian Horner was removed from Red Bull earlier this year
|REUTERS
Their rivalry reached a head in 2021, when Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton had an epic title fight that went down to the final race.
The Dutchman ended up winning the championship in controversial fashion.
Wolff added: "If you look at it, it was always an interesting story.
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"Those years, but especially 2021, it wasn’t just about Max and Lewis, it was about Christian and me. And sometimes it was really hard, it’s in every history book and it always will be.
"You know, he always said that I love to hate him. So who do I hate now? It seems like I have to find someone else,” he concluded jokingly.
Both Hamilton and Verstappen look set to miss out on the championship this season, as the McLaren duo of Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri look to be battling for the title this season.
Vertsappen sits third in the standings behind the McLaren pairing in third, whilst Hamilton is struggling in his first season at Ferrari, as the seven-time champion is yet to get a podium in red.