Christian Horner has hit back at his Formula 1 nemesis Toto Wolff over a dispute concerning the all-new 2026 regulations.
Both Red Bull boss Horner and his driver Max Verstappen expressed concerns in Austria about the massive boost in electrical power required in the new engine rules.
Mercedes’ Toto Wolff hit back instantly, insisting there is “zero chance” of a regulations u-turn.
“I suppose he (Horner) is worried that his engine program is not working and maybe he wants to kill the regulations because of that,” the Austrian said.
“You always have to wonder about the motivation behind such statements.”
But it is now Horner who has returned fire, suggesting it is Wolff who is guilty of hypocrisy.
“It’s typical, sadly, of Toto, who focuses only on his own performance,” the Italian magazine Autosprint quotes Horner as saying.
“My interest is, really, on the sport rather than self-improvement. It’s still too early to tell who will have a competitive engine in 2026 and who won’t.
“For me the most important thing is a collective responsibility, from a sporting point of view, to work with the FIA and the commercial rights holder to ensure the product is the best it can be.
“If we fail to do that, we all will have failed. Because when you start working on these regulations, you discover where the limits are.
“And there are other teams that share our view,” Horner added.
The regulations in 2026 will produce racing characterised by energy shortage. We know what type of racing looks like – look no further than the niche interest of Formula E.
The FIA have made a schoolboy error with the decision to remove the MGUH. It was the key component of the energy delivery package that made these power units very efficient, and it should have been retained in the interests of one day becoming road car relevant.
The FIA believed they could compensate for its loss by increasing the MGUK power and energy limits, but failed to notice that there is simply not enough energy available to maintain these higher limits for more than a single fast lap. Much of the ICE energy output will need to be diverted to charging the battery, resulting in complex energy management and deployment strategies, and ultimately significantly slower EOS speeds.
Teams have been pointing this out to the FIA for a while now, but they have dug their heels in, and doubled down on the flawed regulations.
This will damage F1. Come on Tim Goss, have the courage to admit you were wrong. Ditch these regs before we’re all out of a job.