"It's very easy to pull his chain"- Red Bull's Christian Horner on his intense rivalry with Mercedes' Toto Wolff

Red Bull team principal Christian Horner has admitted he enjoys pulling Mercedes boss Toto Wolff's chain because it is easy to rile the Austrian up.

Red Bull and Mercedes were in the eye of a stormy rivalry in 2021 that had many flashpoints. From Silverstone to Monza, barbs were traded between the two teams on track as well as between the two bosses in the garage.

This culminated in a close-fought battle that went right down to the last lap of the last race, with Max Verstappen trouncing Lewis Hamilton in Abu Dhabi to claim his maiden title. Since then, the rivalry has fermented with Mercedes falling off in terms of performance when compared to Red Bull.

Horner has reiterated that his rivalry with Wolff is not personal and purely professional. In an interview with Sky Sports F1, the 48-year-old said:

“Toto is Toto. He’s done a phenomenal job with Mercedes. He’s obviously come into the sport from a very different background to me, he’s very much from a financial background. And it’s very easy to pull his chain, and you can see it. Sometimes it affects him.”

Horner went on to add:

“So of course when you’re competing, and last year was so intense and of course it was the first time he’d ever been in that situation, it’s always interesting to see how people react. And when they’re smashing headphones and so on, you can see that you got to them.”

Former driver Martin Brundle then asked Horner who was the better boss between him and Wolff. He said:

“That’s not for me to judge. I’m focused on what I’m doing, you guys are judge and jury. Sometimes we get judged by Sky but that’s not for me... I’m focused on what I’m doing and he’s focused on what he’s doing.”

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"Cinderella’s already left" - Red Bull wants FIA to 'come out with clear rules for next year' soon

Red Bull boss Christian Horner wants the FIA to stop dragging their collective feet and 'come out with clear rules' for the 2023 F1 season.

F1 revolutionized things at the start of the 2022 season with sweeping regulatory changes, the biggest among them being 'ground effect', in an attempt to improve the quality of racing. This, however, also meant that drivers would have to deal with porpoising, which soon became a major talking point for all F1 teams.

After potential health concerns were raised following the 2022 F1 Azerbaijan GP, the FIA announced a new technical directive to ensure driver safety. The directive is set to come into effect from the 2022 F1 Belgian GP later this month. Half the grid is reportedly opposing it, with Red Bull at the forefront.

Christian Horner has already insinuated that these proposed changes are a result of aggressive lobbying by Mercedes, a team that has struggled considerably with porpoising this season. Now, the Briton wants the FIA to announce the rules as he feels time has already run out for teams to react to it.

When Horner was asked about the timeline for a possible announcement from the FIA during an interview with Sky Sports F1, he said:

“I’m hoping this week because it’s 10 past midnight now for next year and Cinderella’s already left. So we really need the FIA to come out with clear rules for next year.”

Red Bull are currently looking like runaway leaders in both the Drivers' and Constructors' World Championships, but they are not taking things for granted just yet. Heading into the 2022 F1 Belgian GP, they are 97 points ahead at the top of the World Constructors Championship standings.