Toto Wolff misses 'asshole' Christian Horner: 'Who should I hate now?'

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Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has opened up on the recent departure of Christian Horner, someone he jokingly describes as an "asshole" but also a "real personality" who has left F1.

Horner had led Red Bull as its team principal and CEO from when the Austrian outfit entered the pinnacle of motorsport in 2005, before being axed three days after the British GP.

The announcement shocked the paddock, and represented the end of a huge era in the history of the Milton Keynes-based outfit.

During his stint with Red Bull which lasted just over 20 years, Horner led the squad to eight drivers' and six constructors' championships.

Wolff and Horner clearly had huge differences on how to run an F1 team; however, even the Mercedes boss recognised the significance of the Briton's exit from Red Bull.

"What do I think? Well, that he has behaved like an asshole quite often over the last 12-15 years," Wolff told Formula.hu on Horner's exit. "He operates according to completely different values, but even the greatest enemy has a best friend.

"On the other hand, he was extremely successful in what he did. Now that he's gone, at least for a while, a real personality has left the sport.

"He was controversial and divisive, but he was one of the main characters here. We can safely say that he was as significant as one of a driver.

"Looking at it purely from an F1 perspective, I don't think there are many old-style team boss dinosaurs left here. Maybe just me. Maybe Fred (Vasseur) is a bit of a dinosaur too," Wolff replied with a big smile."