Christian Horner’s Formula One nemesis Toto Wolff reveals his concept why the ex-Red Bull boss was axed by his previous staff – as Mercedes chief sticks the boot in on his rival

Christian Horner was never told why he was given the boot by Red Bull earlier this year after two decades with the team but his old enemy Toto Wolff has a theory. 

Horner, who was dismissed in July 12 months on from a sex texting scandal, and Wolff, were fierce rivals in their roles as team principals and neither man was shy of a public jibe at the other. 

The major flashpoint of their head-to-head was of course the controversial final-lap title victory of Max Verstappen over Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi in 2021. 

And Wolff revealed that he was recently speaking to Hamilton, now of Ferrari, about that day when he posited why Horner was axed with an £80million pay-off by Red Bull. 

He explained: ‘I talked to Lewis about it on Wednesday. I think about it every day – and so does he.

‘It’s stayed with the whole team. Both drivers deserved the title but to use a football analogy, the referee made a bad call.

Toto Wolff thinks Christian Horner left Red Bull because of his sense of entitlement 

Horner, pictured with wife Geri Halliwell, was  sacked by Red Bull after 20 years in charge

‘You can’t reverse it. The goal’s been scored. The game’s finished. I try to look at it from the other side. From their point of view, they felt they deserved to be world champions

‘But Christian was never able to admit that if the roles had been reversed, it would’ve been catastrophic for them and he’d have thrown every insult imaginable.’

The Mercedes boss added: ‘It’s the sense of entitlement he has. And that bit him in the end, because he felt entitled to all the power, and Red Bull simply weren’t willing to hand it to him.’

Last year, Horner was accused of sexual harassment and inappropriate behaviour by a female member of staff, with an internal investigation led by KCs twice clearing him of wrongdoing. 

Geri Halliwell, his former Spice Girl wife, stood by Horner throughout the turmoil. She famously walked hand-in-hand with him in Bahrain last year when the din was its loudest.

The former Red Bull boss left his job at the Milton Keynes-based team with an £80million package in the summer after facing the accusations that put a huge amount of scrutiny on him and the team.

The reason for his departure more than a year on from the claims – was never explained to him, with Frenchman Laurent Mekies, previously of Racing Bulls, Red Bull’s junior team, taking over. 

The pair had one of the most intense off-track rivalries in the history of Formula One

She is understood to have dropped her legal action against him. She has since taken up a different job in the sport at a team we cannot name for legal reasons.

Horner is able to return to F1 from next April and is weighing up his next move.  

Even though Wolff and Horner were fierce rivals, the Austrian recently said part of him missed his old sparring partner. 

He was asked about their famous rivalry in an interview with Channel 4 and said: ‘He was very often an a**hole, and I told him so.

‘In a way, I do (miss it),’ he said. ‘Because him and I, we’ve been fighting for 12 years. 

‘But you know, he was a very polarising, controversial person. He was one of the main actors in the cast here.

‘The performances and the track record speaks for himself and the team. And in that respect, him not being here, it’s almost one of the old dinosaurs gone. There’s not many left from us team principals. So it feels a bit lonely.’