Horner’s “sense of entitlement” caused his downfall at Red Bull – Wolff

Christian Horner’s ousting from Red Bull after 20 years as team principal was the result of his “sense of entitlement”, says his former rival Toto Wolff.

The Mercedes CEO locked horns with Horner on many occasions, notably in 2021 when their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen fought for the world championship.

Wolff said the team “haven’t got over” the circumstances of their 2021 defeat, when FIA race director Michael Masi incorrectly applied the rules at the end of the race, leading to Verstappen overtaking Hamilton in a final-lap restart.

“I talked to Lewis about it yesterday,” Wolff told The Telegraph. “I think about it every day and so does he.

“It’s stayed with the team, too. Both were deserving champions, but the referee made a bad call, to use a football analogy, and you can’t reverse it. The goal has been scored, the game is finished.”

Although Horner has admitted Masi broke the rules in his handling of the restart, Wolff said Horner has never said the same to him. “He was never able to admit it.

“I try to look at it from the other side – and from their point of view, they deserved to be world champions, they had had some incidents that were unfair to them throughout the season, and the outcome of that race is a fair representation of the performance levels during the season.

Advert | Become a RaceFans supporter and

“But Christian was never able to admit the same – that if it was the other way round and had happened to them that day, it would have been catastrophic, and he would have come up with all kinds of insults. And I think that the ability to be introspective or be able to see the other side with some compassion is a total gap in his personality.”

Wolff believes the same trait of Horner’s was behind his departure from Red Bull, following reports of a power struggle at the team.

“It’s the sense of entitlement he has,” said Wolff. “And that bit him in the end, because he felt entitled to all the power, and Red Bull didn’t want to give him that power.”

Red Bull announced Horner’s departure in July. He eventually left in September with a pay-out reported to be worth tens of millions of pounds.

Last month several publications claimed Horner was on the brink of joining Aston Martin in a leadership role. However the team subsequently appointed Adrian Newey as its team principal. Team owner Lawrence Stroll reportedly told staff Horner will not be joining them.

Formula 1

• Rosberg: I split six-figure bill for 2016 Spanish GP crash with Hamilton
• Williams ‘haven’t lost focus on 2026’ despite ‘exceeding expectations’ this year
• Mercedes will cut number of F1 teams it supplies engines to – Wolff
• FIA confirms one-off changes to testing and staff limits in 2026 rules update
• 2025 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix weekend F1 driver ratings

Browse all Formula 1 articles