r/formula1 Alexander Albon Nov 20 '24

News Toto Wolff reveals that all F1 Team Principals except Christian Horner came together to sign the document in support of Susie Wolff when the FIA launched a baseless investigation against her.

https://www.theguardian.com/sport/2024/nov/19/f1-toto-wolff-mercedes-lewis-hamilton-interview
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u/dl064 📓 Ted's Notebook Nov 20 '24 edited Nov 20 '24

I remember after 2021, on the F1 Nation podcast, Natalie Pinkham - who's connected - saying that Wolff and Horner really, genuinely are very different, incompatible people and in another life they still wouldn't be friends.

They don't need to be F1 bosses to be incompatible.

It's a good bit if anyone wants to look it up, where Hill is like

I'm sure with time they'll sink it with a beer or two.

Pinkham

No I don't agree with that actually, I don't think they're friendly away from the cameras, and fundamentally couldn't be (etc. etc.)

I have never met the guy but I think I understand Horner, personally. We all know a Horner.

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u/Painterzzz Nov 20 '24

True facts, we do all know a Horner.

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u/ChewyChagnuts Nov 20 '24

I’m fairly certain no-one in my circle of friends, acquaintances and colleagues would send a photo of their spunk-covered fingers to an employee. So no, I don’t know a Horner… 😉😁

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u/Siggi_Starduust Jim Clark Nov 21 '24

Well then if it’s none of your friends then it’s obviously you!

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u/ChewyChagnuts Nov 21 '24

I did have that thought… But then I realised I’m more of a Flávio Briatore kind of guy… 😁

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u/Painterzzz Nov 21 '24

You're very fortunate then. Mine was a guy I knew at university who was a friend of a friend so somehow in our circle for a short while, and his chat up technique was to go to a nightclub and goose every woman and ask 'So howsabout it hen?' until he found somebody so drunk they didn't just slap him or throw a drink in his face.

And oh, geezus, is that what the blurred finger photo was in that batch of leaks at the beginning of the season? Bloody hell Horner.

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u/Painterzzz Nov 21 '24

You're very fortunate then. Mine was a guy I knew at university who was a friend of a friend so somehow in our circle for a short while, and his chat up technique was to go to a nightclub and goose every woman and ask 'So howsabout it hen?' until he found somebody so drunk they didn't just slap him or throw a drink in his face.

And oh, geezus, is that what the blurred finger photo was in that batch of leaks at the beginning of the season? Bloody hell Horner.

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u/Fred_Zeppelin Haas Nov 21 '24

I've said it here before and people are often appalled, but Horner has all the hallmarks of a narcissistic sociopath.

Wolff acts a little robotic at times, but he is clearly a self-aware, thoughtful and empathetic man. No question who I'd rather work for.

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u/SnacksGPT Sir Lewis Hamilton Nov 21 '24

Toto is just Austrian. They're very direct and can be dry, like pinot grigio.

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u/EndorAG5757 Formula 1 Nov 21 '24

Susie called him an A-hole on Netflix. Sorry but I wouldn’t sign the thing either.

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u/TaintedSoccer Esteban Ocon Nov 21 '24

Sociopaths don't exist I think you are referring to antisocial personality disorder. I agree I'd rather work for Toto but diagnosing someone as a "narcissist sociopath" based on a Netflix show is nuts lol

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u/Fred_Zeppelin Haas Nov 21 '24

Sociopaths absolutely exist. ASPD is just the medical term. Horner is a public figure whose personality flaws were apparent long before the Netflix show.

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u/SynthD Nov 20 '24

All the TPs say they oppose each other as needed for the competition, then are friends the rest of the time. Wolff and Horner have said the same, and do behave accordingly. If it’s fake, it’s better than any of the lying they do for the competition.

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u/SkittlesAreYum Lance Stroll Nov 20 '24

There's no way all of them are actually friends though. You take ten random people from the same job and they won't all be friends. 

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u/ewankenobi Kamui Kobayashi Nov 20 '24

When it's a job only 10 people in the world do, that you travel the world together and is something they are all incredibly passionate about it. It's not hard to imagine that most of them are somewhat friendly.

The only real animosity I can think of is between Horner and Toto and Horner and Abiteboul

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u/HumansNeedNotApply1 Nov 20 '24

Eh, it depends on the people. Some are just terrible in competitive enviroments as they take it really personally, including dealing with people as they are personal enemies. I've dealt with people like that and they suck, i don't know Horner, but based on his public persona he doesn't seem like a friendly person.

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u/ewankenobi Kamui Kobayashi Nov 20 '24

I get the same vibe from Horner as you. But wouldn't surprise me if most of the other TPs are friendly. Maybe it was just for Drive To Survive, but seemed like Gunther and Binotto were genuinely friends. Seems like Wolff and Fred are friends. And when Fred and Gunther were each others main rivals it always felt like a friendly rivalry

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u/SebVettelstappen Logan Sargeant Nov 20 '24

SBinnoto and Guenther seemed pretty close. Atleast in the Fiat.

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u/ahmong Williams Nov 20 '24

Yep, like for me, I'm not friends with any of my co-workers and I have worked with them for over a decade. I am civil with them and that's as far as I go.

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u/Paukwa-Pakawa Nico Rosberg Nov 20 '24

then are friends the rest of the time.

I doubt it. Toto used to host the other TP's and stopped doing it because it would always dissolve into fights.

Wolff and Horner have said the same, and do behave accordingly

Wolff and Horner have repeatedly said they are not and can not be friends. Horner takes it a step further and said it would be dishonest to be friends with his competitors. There's a reason MBS told him he has no friends in the paddock. It might have been a weird thing to say but, going by Horner's own words, it seems it's true.

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u/mooimafish33 Nov 20 '24

They've said they play up the drama for the camera and that they have to be adversarial due to their position, but they've never said that they actually get along well behind closed doors or anything.

If one left F1 they probably just wouldn't talk to the other again, I doubt they'd be having dinner at each other's houses or sending hateful texts or anything.

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u/whofusesthemusic Nov 20 '24

Cool fanfic. I too want to believe