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Drive to Survive pulled back the curtain on the private text message exchange between Toto Wolff and Christian Horner after Red Bull dismissed its long-serving team principal.
The exchange, revealed in the latest season of Netflix’s series, showed a rivalry that had defined Formula 1 for more than a decade ending in direct and unfiltered terms.
When Wolff wrote that the sport would miss one of its main protagonists and reminded Horner of their “love to hate” dynamic, he was summarising a competitive stretch in which they combined 14 of the last 15 world championships. That level of control over the grid leaves little room for coincidence.
The numbers underpin everything. Under Horner’s leadership, Red Bull secured eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles, a record that places his tenure among the most successful in the sport.
Those titles were not spread across scattered seasons, they defined an era in which Mercedes and Red Bull set the competitive ceiling.
Wolff’s message mixed insult with respect
Horner read aloud the message Wolff sent after he was removed from the role of Red Bull team principal after the 2025 British Grand Prix on 9 July 2025.
“I didn’t know what to say, because on one side you’ve been a real a*****e,” Wolff wrote, before adding that the sport would miss one of its main protagonists.
He continued by asking who he was supposed to fight and referenced their “love to hate” dynamic. The Mercedes team principal also pointed out that they had combined 14 of the last 15 world championships, calling it “not a bad points statistic.”
The message acknowledged personal friction while grounding the rivalry in results.
Horner’s reply kept the rivalry alive
Horner responded in the same tone that shaped their public clashes. He said he had loved locking horns over the years and thanked Wolff for the rivalry, the competition and the needle.
He added that no one else had come close, as the statistics showed, before ending with a pointed sign-off that read, “ps You need a haircut.”
The final line was playful, but it reflected the edge that had long defined their exchanges.
The end of a twenty year tenure
Horner’s exit closed a 20-year run at Red Bull. He was dismissed on July 9, 2025, bringing to an end a period in which he secured eight drivers’ and six constructors’ titles.
In the same Drive to Survive episode, Horner said the decision made by Oliver Mintzlaff with Helmut Marko advising led to his removal.
That internal explanation placed the focus firmly within Red Bull’s leadership structure, after rumours that the Verstappen family was at fault for the sacking.
A rivalry defined by confrontation
The tone of the text exchange reflected years of open confrontation. Their relationship intensified during the 2021 title fight between Max Verstappen and Lewis Hamilton, when the championship battle spilled into team principal meetings and media sessions.
What Drive to Survive showed was not reconciliation. It showed two competitors acknowledging that their feud had become part of the sport’s identity.
The insults remained, but so did the respect.
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