“I can only wish to inflict that amount of pain on Toto over the next eight years” – Christian Horner’s light-hearted take on ending Mercedes’ domination
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Christian Horner(on the left) and Toto Wolff(on the right)
The 2010s were completely dominated by two teams: Red Bull and Mercedes. From 2010 to 2013, Red Bull won 4 consecutive Constructor’s and Driver’s championships with Sebastian Vettel. With the advent of the hybrid era in 2014, it was Mercedes’ turn at domination, and they did not let up at all.
In the previous generation of cars from 2014-22, Mercedes won eight out of eight Constructor’s Championships and seven out of eight Driver’s Championships. It was a level of domination that Formula 1 had possibly never seen, and may never again. Better racing and closer championship battles were the goal of the new regulations, but right now it is not particularly the case, even though it could have been.
Red Bull and Max Verstappen comfortably lead both championships by more than 100 points. This is more the case due to Ferrari’s earlier missteps, but recently, they also have the comfortably quickest car. It’s not out of the question that Red Bull and Verstappen embark on an era of domination, even if unlikely, and Christian Horner would surely love it if it were to happen.
Christian Horner does not believe Red Bull can start an era of domination
Christian Horner and Toto Wolff are not known to be on the best of terms. There have been some incidents, including a heated argument at a team principal meeting. They were on opposite sides of perhaps the most heated championship battle in quite a while, and tensions are still not completely gone.
Horner, and many others, were on the wrong side of Mercedes’ domination. After the race in Monza, as per F1-insider.com, Christian Horner was asked if they can perhaps go on a run of domination themselves. He laughed, saying: “I wish I could inflict that amount of pain on Toto [Wolff] over the next eight years.”
Red Bull have won 12 out of the 16 races held this year, so it’s fair to say they have been dominant in the results, even though that has not always been the case in terms of pure pace. However, Horner does not believe that Red Bull can start an era of domination, and said: “It is very unlikely. We’ve just had a wonderful year and the team is performing at a very high level right now. But Ferrari is fast and Mercedes is getting back on its feet.”
Red Bull and Max Verstappen have rather run away with the championship this year, and are all but uncatchable: Verstappen can even win the championship in the next round in Singapore. It’ll be interesting to see if they are just as dominant next year, or if the others will catch up as well.
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Aniket Tripathi
(1002 Articles Published)