Mercedes chief Toto Wolff explains Christian Horner ‘regret' as new F1 season moves closer

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has admitted he regrets calling Red Bull's Christian Horner a 'bit of a windbag who wants to be on camera'. The two men had heated words ahead of the Azerbaijan Grand Prix back in June. And, now, the Silver Arrows team principal has opened up on the incident.

With Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen's rivalry getting increasingly ferocious last year, the two drivers' team principles found themselves getting involved.

The two men would often throw barbs at one another over the course of the campaign and, back in June, things boiled over.

Horner told Wolff to 'keep his mouth shut', saying at the time: "If you are picking on one end of the car, you have to look at the other.

"You can't look at one part in isolation and say: 'Oh, that set of rules only applies to that element on that car'.

"I think if I was Toto, with the front wing he's got on his car, I'd keep my mouth shut."

Wolff, however, then hit back.

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The Austrian said: "Christian is a bit of a windbag who wants to be on camera.

"It's easy to be punchy when you are on top of the timesheet, but you should be a little bit more modest I think."

Now, in an interview with Dutch magazine Formule 1, Wolff has insisted he 'really regrets' the exchange.

"I really regret it," said the 50-year-old.

"I always try to stay professional, approach things professionally. However, it got very personal between the two of us at some point.

"At one point he told me to shut up. Then I responded by saying he was a windbag and talked too much for the cameras.

"I shouldn't have said that because it's a professional relationship and you know that even your worst enemy has a best friend.

"You have to respect that person, even if you fight a hard duel."

Horner also