Red Bull's Christian Horner makes his feelings known about 'yapping little terrier' remark from Toto Wolff
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner gave his take on Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff calling him a "yapping little terrier" during the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix this weekend. The two teams have been involved in a war of words which started after Max Verstappen called out George Russell for the latter's behavior in the stewards' room after the qualifying session at the Qatar Grand Prix last weekend
The four-time F1 world champion claimed that he 'lost all respect' for the British driver for his demeanor in front of the stewards, which eventually resulted in the former getting a one-place penalty and losing his pole position to Russell.
The three-time race winner did not take the comments sitting back and retaliated and labeled the Dutch a 'bully', claiming that someone had to stand up against him.
In a press conference in the Mercedes Hospitality area, Toto Wolff stood in solidarity with Russell and called out Red Bull team principal Christian Horner, who termed the British driver "hysterical" in Lusail. He said:
"Why does he feel entitled to comment about my driver? How does that come? Even thinking about it, I just had 90 seconds to think about it… Yapping little terrier. Always something to say," Wolff said.
In the team's press conference on Friday, Red Bull team principal Christian Horner replied to Wolff calling him a "terrier" and said:
"Well, look, I love terriers," Horner said. "I think they're great dogs. And I've had four of them. I had a couple of Airedales, which are the king of the terriers. I had a couple of West Highland terriers, called Bernie and Flavio."
"And the good thing about a terrier is they're tremendously loyal. But look, I think to be called a terrier, is that such a bad thing? They're not afraid of having to go at the bigger dogs? I'd rather be a terrier than a wolf, maybe," he added.
Red Bull team boss gives his take on the Max Verstappen-George Russell row
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner called Max Verstappen a "straight shooter", pointing to the driver's blunt approach as he believed his feud with George Russell would spill over the remainder of the weekend in Abu Dhabi.
He told the media:
"Look, Max, he's a very straight shooter. He just tells you exactly how he sees it. He tells the truth exactly, you know, what he feels. And obviously, he had a large amount of frustration, you know, last weekend, the way things played out in a scenario that we haven't seen before and a subsequent grid penalty."
Max Verstappen eventually went on to win the race in Qatar after he passed George Russell heading into Turn 1 and sustained his lead despite being challenged by Lando Norris for most of the Sunday night last weekend.