Toto Wolff: “Christian Horner disrespected me and my wife. You can’t trust him”. Toto Wolff feels Christian Horner tried to undermine him during the 2023 conflict-of-interest case.

Toto Wolff vs Christian Horner
A year ago, the FIA investigated an alleged conflict of interest involving Toto Wolff and his wife, Susie, managing director of the F1 Academy. The investigation was abruptly dropped after only a few hours, marking another misstep for FIA President Mohammed Ben Sulayem’s administration. The issue wasn’t the inquiry itself but the handling of the situation, as the FIA informed the media before notifying the Wolffs.

At least publicly, Formula 1 and the teams appeared to rally behind the Wolff family with a strongly worded statement. Within half an hour, all the teams denied filing complaints with the FIA, effectively isolating the organization and forcing it to take responsibility. This unified response wasn’t requested by Wolff but initiated by Frederic Vasseur and supported by the teams. However, Wolff revealed that Christian Horner was far less willing to stand by him.

Toto Wolff’s comments
“I can handle a lot of s***; I’m used to it. But if your wife is dragged into a conflict she has nothing to do with, the fun stops there,” Toto Wolff said in an interview with *The Guardian.* “The response was great. I didn’t make a single call to any team. Fred [Vasseur] took the lead, saying, ‘This is unfair.’ From Günther Steiner to James Vowles, everyone stepped up. They were all ready to sign a statement in our support—except for Christian. As far as I know, he said, ‘I’ll do an interview and say I had nothing to do with it. I won’t sign the document.’ Naturally, he was told that wouldn’t look good and that he should be part of the statement. Later, he tried to insert the word ‘officially,’ so the phrase would read, ‘None of the team principals officially complained to the FIA,’ implying that Red Bull had pressured Ben Sulayem. The other teams responded, ‘Fine, we’ll make our own statement, and you can make yours.’ In the end, he signed the document.”

Toto Wolff concluded with further criticism of Horner: “I don’t speak to him. I don’t think you can rely on what he says. He tried to cause harm to me, disrespected my wife, and belittled the painful journey she endured to achieve what she has both inside and outside the car.”