Horner and Wolff to move on from ‘fierce’ 2021 tension

Christian Horner and Toto Wolff want to “move on” after their relationship became “brutal” at times last season in the heat of battle.

TheRed Bulland Mercedes team bosses traded barbs all season long as the two teams fought tooth-and-nail for both World Championships throughout the year, with tensions simmering on multiple occasions.

Both teams protested the legality of each other’s cars at times,沃尔夫臭名昭著的标签霍纳“风bag”after complaints from the Red Bull boss, and the ongoing fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton left little love to be lost between the two come the end of the season.

Now things have settled down again, the pair want to put their animosity behind them.

“It’s to be expected. It got fierce at times and brutal, but there’s a lot at stake,” Wolff told reporters in a press conference alongside Horner, quoted byMotorsport.com.

The devil's in the details

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“It’s a Formula 1 World Championship and there’s the fighting on track and the fighting off track for advantages. So that’s okay.

“But we need to move on. There’s been so much talk about Abu Dhabi that it came to a point that it’s really damaging for all of us stakeholders of F1, and we’ve closed the chapter and moved on.

“Now it’s about 2022, the game is on again, all points to zero, and new opportunity and new risk.”

Horner acknowledged they will never agree on the way events had played out in the 2021 season finale, in which Verstappen passed Hamilton on the final lap in controversial circumstances to take his first World title.

But like hisMercedescounterpart, Horner wants to move past what was one of the most dramatic Formula 1 season climaxes in the sport’s history and focus on what is ahead instead – but knows inter-team rivalries will be just as big a factor as they have always been.

“I think maybe we share differences of opinion over Abu Dhabi, but that’s all done and dusted and all focus is very much now on 2022,” said Horner.

“I think what you saw last year was a fantastic competition from the first race to the last race. I think that’s been a key part of Formula 1’s revival in popularity.

“It has been that competition, so certainly we hope there will be an equally exciting year, although ideally a little less exciting at times.

“I think there could be some other competitors joining that battle as well. So particularly with a clean sheet of paper, with these brand new cars, it’s a complete reset.

“It’s arguably the biggest regulation change in the last 40 years, but I’m sure the intensity of rivalry between the teams and the drivers will be as pertinent as ever.”

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