Red Bull Mercedes warring down to "unbelievable level" of title fight - Horner

Christian Horner believes the intensity of the off-track warring between Red Bull and Mercedes is a consequence of the "unbelievable level" both are operating at.

The two teams are locked into a title battle that looks set to go the distance, with five points the difference heading into the penultimate round at the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

The campaign has been riddled with barbs and allegations from Red Bull team principal Horner to counterpart Toto Wolff and from Wolff towards Horner, the battle between the two often as dramatic as the on-track fight between Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen.

Asked if he felt the political fighting had gone too far at times during the season, Horner explained: "Formula 1 is a competition. It is the most competitive sport, arguably, in the world. It’s the most technical sport in the world.

"There is a huge amount at stake. The competitors are operating at an unbelievable level and you know on track, off-track it’s been an extremely intense season, but I think we have absolutely…. this is what we have worked for.

"We have worked incredibly hard behind the scenes, it’s not just what you see at the circuit, that’s only 10% of who our team is.

"It’s what goes on behind the scenes in the factory, the late nights, the difficulties through all the remote working that we have had, the circumstances of the last 12 months.

"As a team we have fought incredibly hard to get into this position. Max having won nine grands prix this year and the team having won 10 grands prix, is a position that we have strived for during the difficult years and we have never given up.

"We’ve kept fighting, we’ve kept pushing, we’ve kept believing and Mercedes, make no bones about it, have set the bar incredibly high but it’s great that we are in this position, we’re enjoying being in this position and rest assured we will give it everything that we have between now and the end of the year."

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