Toto Wolff responds to Christian Horner’s ‘Frankenstein’ car talk with Red Bull fear suggestion

Toto Wolff believes Christian Horner has ulterior motives behind his “Frankenstein’s Monster” comment in regards to the 2026 cars.

The Red Bull boss expressed a concern that the combustion to electric power ratio of the 2026 power unit regulations would have a severe impact on chassis design, forcing teams to accommodate a larger battery and the cooling needed to go with it,

Horner described it as “Frankenstein’s Monster” and urged the FIA to reconsider the regulations.

His Mercedes counterpart, though, believes there is a different reason Horner is kicking up a fuss.

“I think what frightens him [Horner] more maybe is that his engine programme is not coming along and maybe he wants to kill it that way,” Wolff said as per the Race.

“You always have to question what is the real motivation to say something like that.”

Wolff, whose team’s engine will be produced by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth, instead relished the challenge that was on offer.

“That is an exciting project to aim for,” he said.

“How does the modern Formula 1 car of 2026 look like? How can we make it aerodynamically so efficient and capable that it can compensate for the lack of combustion engine [output]?

“That should all excite us because we will come up with new concepts of Formula 1 cars that will be great.”

The last major engine change in F1 signalled a new dawn of Mercedes success with the turbo-hybrid era being dominated by the Silver Arrows.

Under Wolff’s leadership, they won eight consecutive Constructors’ Championships and seven Drivers’ titles.

Wolff was also confused as to why anyone was talking of potential changes, remarking that because suppliers such as Audi and Honda have already signed up, there was no chance regulations would be changed now.

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“That’s not going to happen,” the Austrian said ahead of his home race. “Zero chance. Capital letters. So, I don’t know why these things are coming up.

“We’ve developed the regulations over many years with all the auto manufacturers being involved, it was a compromise that attracted Audi to finally join the sport. For Honda to stay in there.

“It’s the best possible case that one could imagine for Formula 1.

“Is it challenging? Our chassis designers are saying ‘well, how we are going to do this?’. Yeah. Super.

“But, zero [chance]. These regulations are not going to change anymore. They’re not going to be postponed anymore.

“Because the world needs to show innovation about sustainability, we need to reduce emissions and we are super excited.”