Toto Wolff or Christian Horner? Guenther Steiner points to most “annoying”
Guenther Steiner quizzed about his former rivals
Toto Wolff and Christian Horner have each enjoyed multiple eras of F1 dominance.
The rivalry between Mercedes and Red Bull - and the war of words between their team principals - was captured dramatically by Netflix’s Drive To Survive and continues to this day.
Guenther Steiner was asked by the Red Flags podcast whether Wolff or Horner was more irritating during their periods of dominance.
Steiner pondered: “Who was more annoying on top?
“I would say Christian! It came with too much drama.
“There was never really any drama with Toto - ‘we are winning because we are the best!’”
Red Bull won four titles in a row with Sebastian Vettel, and Max Verstappen is fighting for his fourth consecutive championship this season.
Mercedes helped Lewis Hamilton become F1’s most successful driver until the balance of power changed at the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Steiner has teased Mercedes for blaming their recent troubles on tyres.
After a period of three wins in four grands prix, they have slipped behind McLaren, Red Bull and Ferrari again.
“I wouldn’t say they were good,” Steiner said. “They are a little bit lost in what they are doing.
“The comments from George are always the same - ‘the tyre doesn’t work’.
“Yeah, if your car isn’t good, the tyre doesn’t work! I’m sorry.
“I was there before and it’s not something new.
“If you don’t know who to blame, just blame Pirelli! It’s straightforward!
“They had a few races where they were very good and they surprised me. But then they lost it again.
“It’s very up and down.”
'Ferrari will decide drivers' champion'
Steiner compared Mercedes’ inconsistency to Ferrari’s.
“It’s a little bit like the Ferraris, they have a similar pattern,” he said.
“In Singapore, Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc messed up otherwise they would be on the podium.
“Ferrari will decide who will be the drivers’ champion.
“It’s how many points they can steal from Max.
“So, Zak Brown needs to be nice to Fred Vasseur, and not to Christian Horner! Fred helps him.
“What McLaren showed in Singapore, wow. Zak does a good job of being loved. He makes peace with Christian.
“But he’ll steal the championship without them noticing.”
McLaren lead the constructors' but Lando Norris is 52 points behind Max Verstappen in the drivers'.
James was a sports journalist at Sky Sports for a decade covering everything from American sports, to football, to F1.
