Helmut Marko opens up about power games in his former F1 team

Red Bull’s former long-serving advisor, Helmut Marko, has opened up about the power games in his former F1 team, saying ‘Max Verstappen would have been champion if Christian Horner had been fired earlier.’

Verstappen finished runner-up behind winner Lando Norris of McLaren by just two points in the same season, which saw Horner sacked as Red Bull team principal after 20 years in charge on July 9, 2025.

Despite a late comeback in the F1 2025 season, Verstappen failed because the damage was done in the first half of the campaign.

But now, Marko, who has separated from Red Bull since the team’s founding in 2005, believes that Verstappen would have been the champion had Horner left the team at an earlier stage.

Horner’s exit appeared to bring an end to power games within Red Bull, although Marko played down that interpretation.

“That’s how it’s always been described in the media, but it was nothing personal,” the 82-year-old said.

“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.”

Dietrich Mateschitz, the late Red Bull founder, passed away in October 2022.

Marko said that Horner tried everything to take control of the company with Red Bull’s Thai co-owner Chalerm Yoovidhya’s support after 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 said, referring to Red Bull’s Thai co-owner.

“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.”

The decision to fire Horner did not feel like a victory to Marko, as he believes it was necessary, as the performance of the team was falling behind.

“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.”