Toto Wolff hinted Red Bull have made a car to suit Max Verstappen, which Christian Horner has responded to; Verstappen is on a record winning streak of 10 races after victory at Monza; watch all sessions from the Singapore GP live on Sky Sports F1 from September 15-17
Friday 8 September 2023 07:14, UK
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner says his Mercedes counterpart Toto Wolff showed "a total lack of understanding" of car development in recent comments made about the RB19.
Asked about the performance margin between world championship leader Max Verstappen and his Red Bull team-mate Sergio Perez, Wolff questioned whether the Dutchman's "ability to create a car around himself that is just very tricky to control but fast if you can" was the explanation.
Verstappen, who claimed a record 10th successive Grand Prix victory in Monza on Sunday to move 145 points clear of Perez at the top of the world championship, dismissed Wolff's comments, insisting that "it's not like that".
"Well, I think I completely agree with Max," Horner said in Italy.
"It shows a total lack of understanding of how a race car and team develop, if Toto thinks that we're developing a car around a single driver.
"You develop a car to be as quick as you can and sometimes quick cars are difficult cars - that's what's historically been the case.
"I think that drivers adapt. The good drivers that you see in wet conditions, mixed conditions, varied conditions, the elite, they adapt quickly and I think that's one of his (Verstappen's) key skill sets is his ability to adapt to the feeling and the grip levels that a car gives him.
"But there's certainly no direction to say, 'oh, we tailor something to suit one specific driver', we're just trying to design and build the fastest car that that we can, that our tools, our simulation or our wind tunnel provide us with that direction."
Despite Mercedes having been no match for Red Bull on the track since Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton's fiercely fought 2021 title battle, tensions between the rivals have been building in recent weeks.
Hamilton said ahead of the Italian Grand Prix that he was "no more impressed" by Verstappen's success than that of previous world champions, and also questioned the pedigree of the team-mates the Dutchman has had during his career.
Those comments prompted Verstappen to question whether Hamilton is a "little bit jealous" of his success, with the Dutchman firmly on course to claim a third successive drivers' title.
Reacting to the recent exchanges, Wolff played down the suggestion that there is any animosity between the drivers and teams, suggesting it is "part of the fun".
"First of all, it's obvious that the drivers like to poke each other a bit," Wolff said.
"But then you can say that Lewis has raced three world champions. He raced Jenson (Button), he raced Fernando (Alonso) and he raced Nico (Rosberg).
"But I don't want to in any way diminish anybody's performance because Max in the car is outstanding. So yeah, it's just part of the fun."
Next up for the F1 circus are the stunning streets of Singapore under the lights. All sessions from the Singapore GP will be live on Sky Sports F1 from September 15-17. Stream F1 on Sky Sports with NOW. Cancel anytime
