Helmut Marko hasn’t held back

Helmut Marko has claimed that Max Verstappen would almost certainly have secured a fifth consecutive Formula One world championship this season had Red Bull acted sooner in removing Christian Horner, in remarks that lay bare the depth of the internal conflict that engulfed the sport’s dominant team earlier this year.

Verstappen came agonisingly close to extending his reign after the title fight went down to the final round in Abu Dhabi earlier this month.

Although the Dutchman won the season-ending Grand Prix, it was not enough to overhaul McLaren’s Lando Norris, who clinched his first world championship ahead of Verstappen and team-mate Oscar Piastri.

Horner, Red Bull’s long-serving team principal, was dismissed in July, following more than a year of turbulence triggered by allegations that he had acted coercively towards a female employee.

Horner denied the claims and was twice cleared following investigations conducted by independent King’s Counsel in 2024.

Despite those findings, the controversy fuelled a prolonged media storm, exacerbated by the leak of messages purportedly sent by Horner, and exposed a fierce power struggle within Red Bull between its Thai and Austrian shareholders.

Marko, who co-founded Red Bull Racing alongside the late Dietrich Mateschitz, emerged as a central figure in that struggle.

Helmut Marko has claimed that Max Verstappen would almost certainly have secured a fifth consecutive Formula One world championship this season had Red Bull acted sooner in removing Christian Horner, in remarks that lay bare the depth of the internal conflict that engulfed the sport’s dominant team earlier this year

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Speaking to De Limburger after his own departure from the team last week, the 82-year-old suggested that Horner’s exit should have been engineered earlier for the good of Red Bull’s competitive fortunes.

“It was nothing personal,” Marko said of Horner’s sacking, adding that he had been motivated “on behalf of ‘Austria’” to prevent Horner from consolidating further authority following Mateschitz’s death in 2023.

Yet Marko rejected the notion that Horner’s removal represented a political triumph.

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“We had to do something because our on-track performance was lagging,” he said.

“Had we done that sooner, by the way, we would have gotten things back on track faster this year, and Max would have become world champion. I’m absolutely convinced of that.”

Marko also painted an unflattering picture of Red Bull’s internal climate during Horner’s final years in charge.

“But those last years with Horner weren’t pleasant,” he said. “Dirty tricks were played.”

He pointed to previous controversies that he believes were deliberately weaponised against him, including a 2023 incident for which he received an FIA warning over what was deemed a xenophobic remark relating to Sergio Perez.

“Do you remember me saying, back in the Sergio Perez era, that Mexicans are less focused than the Dutch or Germans?” Marko said. “That was fabricated, perhaps even by them.”

Lando Norris beat Max Verstappen by two points to become world champion | REUTERSHe added: “Just like I supposedly said in 2024 that our engine development was behind schedule and that we would therefore lose Ford as our sponsor.

“I never said that, but Horner wanted to use that to get me suspended. Because Max stepped up to the plate in Jeddah, it didn’t happen.”

Horner officially left Red Bull in September after agreeing an £80million settlement, enabling him to return to Formula One as early as next season.

The figure was understood to be lower than the £110m he could have claimed had his contract, which ran until 2030, been honoured in full, but avoided delaying his comeback.

His departure closed a remarkable chapter in Red Bull’s history. Appointed team principal when the outfit joined the grid in 2005, Horner oversaw eight drivers’ championships and six constructors’ titles across two golden eras, first with Sebastian Vettel and later with Verstappen, while becoming a constant presence in the paddock alongside his wife, Geri Halliwell.

Marko’s own exit marks another profound shift at Red Bull and one likely to trouble Verstappen. The four-time champion regarded Marko as a key ally within the organisation, and while neither he nor his father Jos are thought to be happy with the decision, both are believed to have accepted it as Red Bull enters an uncertain new phase.