The Red Bull and Mercedes team bosses famously do💝n’t usually see eye-to-eye amid a bitter rivalry between their tea🐻ms and drivers, leading to several off-track clashes that have sparked regular war of words. 

But Horner and Wolff appeared to (briefly, at least) put aside their differences when they🎉 shared a rare moment in the Yas Marina p🍌addock following last month’s season finale in Abu Dhabi. 

A photo of the pair smiling and laughing together as the⛦y posed for the camera was captured and soon went viral on social media. 

1996 world champion Damon Hill revealed there had been a genuinely nice moment between the duo, having witnessed Wolff and Horner speaking outside of the Red Bull hospitality bef🐲ore the photo was taken. 

That end of season feeling

— Oracle Red Bull Racing (@redbullracing)

The picture ⛦prompted Horner to be asked whether he and Wolff are secretly f🌺riends in an interview with Sky Sports News on Wednesday. 

“There has to be respect at the end of the day and what the Mercedes team achieved 🐼during their dominant period was phenomenal and they still are a fantastically strong team,” the Red Bull chief said. 

“We’ve enjoyed a great year and we haven’t seen much of Mercedes this year, so it was just a moment at t💯he end of the season. But there has to be respect at t♌he end of the day. The racing needs to be contained to being on the track.”

But when asked if he would like to see a stronger Mercedes next season, Horner quickly answered with a smirk: “Not🧸 really.” 

Speaking to Austrian publication OE24, Wolff shed some light on how the photo came about. &nbꩵsp;

"That was on the way o🌼ut of the paddock,” he said. “There was a nice group around Mark Mateschitz, his mother and a few people I know w🐬ell. 

“I joined them and had a nice chat with Geri [Halliwell, Horner's wife] and that's how the photo came about🍌. 

"Friends? The last handshake wꦏas maybe in 2021, before the last race. But you have to acknowledge your competitor's achievements. I respect what the Red Bull team has achieved.”

On Wednesday, Horner led a chorus of unified responses from F1 teams insisting they had not complained to the FIA about the conduct of Wolff and his wife Susie amid allegations of a conflict of interest reportedly involving the pair.𝄹