Helmut Marko leaves Red Bull and calls team statement “nonsense”

Helmut Marko is leaving Red Bull astatine the extremity of 2025, and helium is not going quietly. The long-time motorsport advisor says Max Verstappen would person won the 2025 drivers’ title if Christian Horner had been removed earlier successful the season, arguing the squad waited excessively agelong to respond arsenic results started to slide.

Red Bull confirmed past week that Marko volition depart aft a turbulent twelvemonth successful which Horner was sacked successful July and Verstappen missed the rubric by 2 points. Marko and Horner clashed repeatedly during their clip astatine the top, a narration often framed arsenic a powerfulness struggle. Marko rejected that description, telling De Limburger it was “nothing personal.”

“We had to act” arsenic show slipped

Marko besides pushed backmost connected the thought that Horner’s dismissal aft the British Grand Prix was a idiosyncratic triumph for him.

“No,” helium said. “We had to enactment due to the fact that show connected way was falling behind.

“And if we had done it earlier, we would person got things backmost connected way sooner and Max Verstappen would person been satellite champion this year.

“I americium perfectly convinced of that.”

He past laid retired his mentation of however the interior equilibrium shifted aft the decease of Red Bull co-owner Dietrich Mateschitz successful 2022. Marko claimed Horner tried to instrumentality greater power by strengthening his ties to Thai co-owner Chalerm Yoovidhya, portion Marko worked to sphere power from the company’s Austrian base.

“Together with Didi [Dietrich Mateschitz], I founded Red Bull Racing successful 2005,” Marko said. “We appointed Horner arsenic squad boss, and I was determination arsenic supervisor. Basically, the powerfulness was ever successful Austria, we decided.”

He added: “From that constituent on, helium began cosying up to Chalerm Yoovidhya. When Didi died aboriginal that year, helium did everything helium could to instrumentality implicit with Yoovidhya's support. I did everything I could connected behalf of 'Austria' to forestall that.”

“Dirty games” and a messy goodbye

Marko said the last years were tense and accused Horner’s campy of “dirty games,” claiming contention astir earlier remarks astir Sergio Perez was “fabricated -- perchance by them [Horner's camp].”

He besides dismissed the wording of Red Bull’s announcement: “I don't privation to spell into excessively overmuch detail, but I didn't work that property merchandise afloat of nonsense,” helium said.

Marko said the determination to measurement down crystallized precocious successful the season. “The thought of stopping started to instrumentality signifier for maine successful Qatar,” helium said, adding, “On the Thursday earlier the last contention successful Abu Dhabi, I decided for myself that this would beryllium my past weekend.”