Toto Wolff made his interest in Max Verstappen well known, which came as a surprise to Christian Horner.

Wolff’s interest first came about in 2024 as a power struggle within Red Bull led to speculation that Verstappen could leave the team. Lewis Hamilton was joining Ferrari at the end of the year, but Mercedes ended up bringing in Kimi Antonelli.

During the Italian’s tough rookie season, the move was touted again. It was even said that Mercedes gave the ‘green light’ to sign Verstappen, but again, the Dutchman stayed at Red Bull.

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Christian Horner felt sorry for George Russell after Toto Wolff’s ‘very public’ interest in Max Verstappen

In 2026, the four-time champion was threatening to quit F1 over the new regulations. There were concerns that he would leave Red Bull through an exit clause in his contract.

However, Verstappen signed a new contract with Red Bull until 2030, saving George Russell’s seat. He would have been likely moved on if Mercedes could bring in the Dutchman, given Kimi Antonelli’s impressive form.

Speaking on the Chequered Flag podcast, former Red Bull CEO Horner admits he was ‘surprised’ by how public Wolff’s interest in Verstappen was, and he was left feeling sorry for Russell.

He said: “Well, look, everybody goes about their business differently, and I think that Mercedes is a great team. Obviously, they’ve got a strong appeal to them, particularly with what they’ve achieved this year.

“I guess what I was surprised [by] was the public openness of the courting of another driver from another team when you’ve got two drivers in your team, which is basically meaning that one of them is going to get dropped.

“So, that was all that surprised [me]. I felt very sorry for George Russell at that point, because for all intents and purposes, it was going to be him that was going to be dropped.”

Russell was among the drivers that Horner approached for Red Bull over the years. He potentially had the chance to sign him as a junior driver, but Helmut Marko brushed Russell aside after he tried the simulator.

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Asked if he was trying to get his own back on Wolff by looking at Russell, Horner replied: “No, look, I’ve always rated George very highly.

“And I think, as a team principal, as a CEO of an organisation, it’s your responsibility to have those conversations, and I’ve talked about some of those conversations in the book.

“It’s your responsibility to be engaging in the market and knowing what’s going on with all of those top drivers, but better to do it behind the scenes than very publicly through the media. But, as I say, everybody’s different, it’s not saying one’s right and one’s wrong.”