Jonas LeoSalzburg, Austria – Dr. Helmut Marko, the recently departed long-serving advisor to Red Bull Racing, has asserted that reigning champion Max Verstappen would have secured an unprecedented fifth consecutive Formula 1 World Championship in 2025 had former Team Principal Christian Horner been dismissed from his role at an earlier juncture. Verstappen, despite an extraordinary late-season resurgence, ultimately concluded the 2025 campaign just two points shy of McLaren’s Lando Norris, who clinched his maiden world title.
Marko’s outspoken comments follow a period of significant upheaval within the Milton Keynes-based outfit. His own departure from Red Bull was announced immediately after the conclusion of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, bringing an abrupt end to a decades-long collaboration that predated the team’s entry into Formula 1. This move, made despite Marko’s ongoing contract, came in the same season that saw Horner, a pivotal figure for two decades, sacked as Team Principal in July 2025. Horner had led Red Bull Racing since its inception in 2005, overseeing all of its driver and constructor championships, including Verstappen’s four consecutive titles from 2021 to 2024.
Speaking to De Limburger, the 82-year-old Austrian downplayed characterisations of the internal strife as a mere "power struggle," albeit acknowledging deep-seated issues. "That’s how it’s always been described in the media, but it was nothing personal," Marko stated, providing his perspective on the team’s foundational structure. "Together with Didi [the late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz], I founded Red Bull Racing in 2005. We appointed Horner as team principal, and I was there as a supervisor. In principle, the power was always in Austria – we made the decisions."
The dynamics within Red Bull GmbH, the parent company, shifted dramatically following the death of its visionary co-founder, Dietrich Mateschitz, in October 2022. Mateschitz, who held a 49% stake in the company, had been the driving force behind Red Bull’s ambitious motorsport ventures, including the creation of its Formula 1 team. His passing left a vacuum that, according to Marko, Horner sought to exploit.
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Marko recounted a telling incident from early 2022, preceding Mateschitz’s death. "I remember a party earlier that year, ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix, Didi was there but not in good health. Christian came up to me and said ‘he won’t make it to the end of the year.’ From that moment on, Christian began cozying up to Chalerm Yoovidhya," Marko alleged, referring to the Thai co-owner whose family holds a 51% majority stake in Red Bull GmbH. "When Didi passed away later that year, Christian did everything he could to take control of the company with Yoovidhya’s support. On behalf of ‘Austria’, I did everything possible to prevent that."
This behind-the-scenes manoeuvring reportedly intensified throughout the 2023 and 2024 seasons, even as Verstappen continued his dominant run, securing his third and fourth world titles. However, Marko maintains that the internal focus on these power dynamics ultimately began to compromise the team’s operational effectiveness, contributing to a decline in on-track performance that became evident in the early part of the 2025 season.
"That effort was successful, but it required Horner’s dismissal and the decision did not feel like a victory to Marko," he continued. "No," he said. "We had to act because performance on track was falling behind. And if we had done it earlier, we would have got things back on track sooner and Max Verstappen would have been world champion this year. I am absolutely convinced of that."
The 2025 Formula 1 season proved to be a nail-biting affair, a stark contrast to Verstappen’s previous dominant championship victories where he often secured the title well before the final race. Having previously secured the 2021 title in a controversial final lap, followed by commanding performances in 2022, 2023, and 2024, Verstappen entered 2025 as the overwhelming favourite for an unprecedented fifth consecutive crown. However, the season began with Red Bull facing unexpected challenges, including reliability issues and a resurgent McLaren, whose young British driver Lando Norris had consistently demonstrated pace and maturity.
By the summer break, Verstappen found himself in a "seemingly hopeless position," trailing Norris significantly in the drivers’ standings. Following Horner’s dismissal in July and the subsequent appointment of Laurent Mekies as Team Principal, a former Sporting Director at Ferrari with a wealth of experience, Red Bull Racing appeared to find renewed impetus. Verstappen orchestrated an "impressive late resurgence," closing the gap dramatically in the latter half of the season. Despite a series of crucial victories and podiums, the Dutchman ultimately finished just two points behind Norris, highlighting the razor-thin margins at the pinnacle of motorsport and the potential impact of any early-season performance dip. A single extra point in any of the preceding 22 races, or a slightly different outcome in just one Grand Prix, could have swung the championship in Verstappen’s favour.
Marko did not shy away from detailing what he described as "dirty games" played during Horner’s final years at the helm. "But those final years with Horner were not pleasant," Marko continued on the Horner topic. "Dirty games were being played. Do you remember when it was claimed that I said Mexicans were less focused than Dutch or German people during Sergio Perez’s time? That was fabricated – possibly by them [Horner’s camp]." This accusation refers to an incident in September 2023 when Marko made controversial remarks about Sergio Perez’s performance, suggesting his nationality might affect his consistency, which led to widespread criticism and a public apology from Marko. He now suggests these claims were exploited or even manufactured internally.
He further alleged, "The same goes for the claim that in 2024 I spread the story that our engine development was behind schedule and that we would therefore lose Ford as a partner. I never said that, but Horner wanted to use it to have me suspended. Because of Max’s support in Jeddah, that didn’t happen." This claim points to a deeper level of internal political manoeuvring, suggesting attempts by Horner to undermine Marko’s position within the team. The specific incident in Jeddah, likely referring to the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix in 2024, reportedly saw Max Verstappen publicly or privately defend Marko, effectively shielding him from potential disciplinary action. Verstappen has consistently expressed strong loyalty to Marko, who played a crucial role in bringing him into Formula 1 at a remarkably young age.
Ultimately, Marko suggests, Horner’s prolonged efforts to consolidate power backfired. "More and more often, we were able to prove that Horner lied about all sorts of things," Marko concluded. "Once Chalerm realised that too, he changed his mind." This indicates that the sustained efforts by Marko and the "Austrian" faction to expose alleged misrepresentations eventually swayed Chalerm Yoovidhya, the majority owner, leading to Horner’s eventual dismissal in July 2025.
The revelations from Dr. Marko offer a rare glimpse into the intense internal dynamics that reportedly plagued Red Bull Racing during a period of unprecedented on-track success. His conviction underscores a belief that the pursuit of corporate control and alleged internal machinations overshadowed the team’s primary objective, ultimately impacting its ability to deliver a fifth consecutive world title for its star driver, Max Verstappen. The 2025 season will now be remembered not just for Lando Norris’s breakthrough championship, but also for the turbulent backdrop against which Red Bull’s dominant era appeared to falter, at least temporarily.
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Author Profile
- Jonas Leo is a passionate motorsport journalist and lifelong Formula 1 enthusiast. With a sharp eye for race strategy and driver performance, he brings readers closer to the world of Grand Prix racing through in-depth analysis, breaking news, and exclusive paddock insights. Jonas has covered everything from preseason testing to dramatic title deciders, capturing the emotion and precision that define modern F1. When he’s not tracking lap times or pit stop tactics, he enjoys exploring classic racing archives and writing about the evolution of F1 technology.
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