In the days leading up to the Abu Dhabi race which would decide the outcome of the 2016 championship, Christian Horner was the first to admit that Lewis Hamilton's best chance of securing the title would be to take the lead and then back-up his teammate into the clutches of his rivals, preferably Red Bull's own drivers.

And that's exactly what the Briton did.

In the wake of Mercedes reaction to Hamilton's tactics, and the threat of sanctions being taken against the driver for not obeying orders, Horner has mocked Mercedes naivety, whilst also taking the opportunity to take a swipe at Toto Wolff.

"I wouldn't have expected him to do anything different," he told reporters. "He played completely within the rules.

"Winning the race was never going to be enough for him, he needed cars between him and if he'd have charged off into the distance he wouldn't have created that possibility.

"He won the race as slowly as he could," he continued, "it's like in a football game where a team might protect from the opposition by kicking the ball around and not enabling the opposition to get hold of the ball. I didn't see that he did anything wrong. There were only two drivers competing for the world championship, it was totally obvious that he was going to do that.

"He didn't do anything dirty," he insisted, "he didn't do anything against the rules and it would be unfair to criticise Lewis for the way that he drove."

When asked if the resultant in-house tension at Mercedes is something that Red Bull might be able to exploit next season, Horner said: "I understand Toto has suggested Lewis followed my instruction rather than his and he should come and drive for Red Bull, but maybe it works better to talk directly to the driver rather than the father."

Ouch!

Check out our Sunday gallery from Abu Dhabi, here.

LATEST NEWS

more news >

LATEST IMAGES

galleries >

Click to go to the main galleries section

READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 01/12/2016 21:11

"@Peter Rickitt
And they say irony is dead..."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

2. Posted by f1fan, 30/11/2016 14:35

"The "instuction" should never have been given in the first place. Wolff has always maintained that his drivers can race each other and that he won't interfere. So why interfere now??? Mercedes is already world champion, so let the two drivers fight it out on the track as long as it is done fairly. To slow down in this race was a "racing tactic" and it is legal and Lewis did not brake any rules. It is his only way to win the championship....by having Rosberg finish 4th or lower or Nico's car breaks down.
So what if even Ferrari or Red Bull wins the race...Mercedes is already world champion !!
Lauda made HIS OWN decision to quit racing when it was raining in Japan formerly....and Lewis also made HIS OWN decision in Abu Dhabi. What is good for the geese......etc, etc."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

3. Posted by lymehall, 29/11/2016 23:50

"If any of us at work ignored an order/instruction from one of our bosses what would happen ? We would probably have been sacked, for gross misconduct if of the order of Lewis Hamiltons antics."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

4. Posted by CL, 29/11/2016 19:23

"Nico and Keke Rosberg have both said they have no problem with what Hamilton did. Maybe that would be different if it had worked but I don't think so. "

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

5. Posted by Peter Rickitt, 29/11/2016 17:29

"What an oleaginous individual Horner is - Lewis Hamilton would fit in well with all the other MateShits and should join them in the slurrypit called Red Bull: it could then be renamed as Red Light to reflect its morals.

The lovely Ricciardo and uncorrupted Verstappen could both then join either the true professionals at Mercedes (Rosberg having retired at his peak, to use his undoubted intellect at Delta Topco) or the equally true racers at the stylish Williams (Bottas to McLaren?)

And Mercedes ? Pull out at the top - that is your history : keep developing engines and sell your UK base to Jonathan Palmer for his own team, with drivers as above

I can but dream!"

Rating: Negative (-1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

6. Posted by Pavlo, 29/11/2016 12:36

"scf1fan: Here I completely disagree, because Mercedes said several times before the race that they as a team "will not interfere". Which with the situation with points and car performance obviously could mean only one thing - they promised not to make tactics that will allow safely taking 1-2.
Also financially, they got both titles, so on the event like this for a team like this 1-2 or 1-4 doesn't make any difference. Even having 2 cars crashed and DNF would have only PR consequences, but financially they more than can afford this. As well as paying bonuses to the whole team in any case.

What I really don't understand, is why were these orders were made. It was absolutely obvious that Lewis will not obey, as well as completely obvious why and what is he doing. So instead of just having the nice evening, they created themselves a problem - what to do with Lewis now? In my understanding, if you want to have a nice working relations with your employee, and you see that he is not going to do something, just don't give the order and don't create troubles for yourself. Unless you want to find a formal reason to fire someone - but maybe they want?"

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

7. Posted by scf1fan, 28/11/2016 22:22

"The difference here is that Lewis and Nico are actually on the same team, I.E. team mates; or more accurately co-workers. If Lewis forced Nico into a position where Nico fell to 3rd or 4th, that would cost the Mercedes team and (I would assume through performance bonuses) the other members of the team money. I understand Christian's empathy with Lewis, the Red Bull management has a lot of experience with being whiners."

Rating: Neutral (0) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

8. Posted by Spindoctor, 28/11/2016 20:19

"In the absence of making a car fast enough to beat the Mercedes. I suppose all Christian Horner has got left is to stir the pot."

Rating: Positive (2) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

9. Posted by testa rossa, 28/11/2016 19:48

"LOL ..... and Lauda thinks he knows it all"

Rating: Positive (1) Rate comment: Positive | NegativeReport this comment

Horner mocks Mercedes naivety

LATEST NEWS

RELATED ARTICLES

LATEST IMAGES

POST A COMMENT

Post your comment

READERS COMMENTS

Share this page