“You have got a problem, change your f**king car!” exclaimed Christian Horner after rival boss Toto Wolff attempted to blame the 2022 regulations for Mercedes’ problems. That iconic moment from Netflix’s ‘Drive to Survive’, followed by Wolff’s claim of him having Red Bull driver Sergio Perez’s problems “printed out” was a hilarious delight for viewers. However, former Haas Boss Guenther Steiner has claimed the Mercedes-Red Bull team bosses took their rivalry up a notch just for the Netflix cameras.

Here’s some context for the unversed. F1’s 2022 regulations induced an unusual bouncing moment in the cars, termed ‘porpoising’, which troubled drivers. Mercedes was worst affected while arch-rivals Red Bull recovered to normalcy quickly. In a Team Principals’ meeting with F1 CEO Stefano Domenicali, this rivalry turned ugly and that over-the-top scene delighted Netflix and the viewers.

Guenther Steiner, the then-Haas Team Principal, unlike Wolff and Horner, was a silent witness in that room. In his new podcast, ‘Vankah Hours with Guenther Steiner’, he spilled the beans on that iconic moment. When inquired, to co-host Brian Muller, if that moment was “for the cameras”, Steiner replied, “I think there was some playing involved in it. There was no script or anything, that wasn’t there. It’s just like when the opportunity arose, obviously, I think they jumped on the opportunity to show off,” he added.

The Italian then explained how such disputes are common in such meetings but rarely so animated. “Because normally, it happens sometimes, a little bit,” he added. “But that was, of all the meetings I went to, there were maybe two or three moments like that. This was the highest one. And it’s normally between them two, which have got something to say to each other. I don’t know the scene, how they showed it on ‘Drive to Survive’, but all the other ones, we were looking at each other and some of us were grinning, you know.”

Steiner also mentioned avoiding participating in those battles because “it’s fun to watch”. Even for the viewers, it was fun to watch. In fact, it is still as entertaining as ever, with Wolff and Horner taking jabs at each other constantly.

Toto Wolff hits back at Christian Horner’s failed mathematics

After Adrian Newey’s Red Bull exit, Zak Brown and Toto Wolff claimed that more RB employees were sending their CVs to McLaren and Mercedes. Christian Horner, while hitting back, singled out Wolff, saying Red Bull had poached 220 engineers from Mercedes. Wolff’s counter-attack was another hilarious jab at his long-time foe.

“You got to work on the maths,” Wolff retorted in Imola. “Red Bull has taken 19 engineers from Mercedes, which is a normal average in terms of personnel fluctuation from one team to the others.”

Though Mercedes is no longer Red Bull’s direct rival, this feud gathers pace. As long as Netflix gets solid content out of it, they won’t stop recording. And as long as we fans enjoy it, we won’t stop watching. A win-win for everybody?