Helmut Marko: ‘Max Verstappen would have been F1 champion if Christian Horner was dismissed earlier’

Despite an impressive late resurgence, Max Verstappen missed out on his fifth consecutive Formula 1 world title in 2025. Helmut Marko, however, believes the Red Bull driver would have become champion had Christian Horner left the team at an earlier stage.

Shortly after the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, it was announced that Red Bull and Marko would immediately end their longstanding collaboration, despite an ongoing contract. It occurred in the same season that saw Horner be sacked as team principal in July after 20 years with the Austrian squad.

Horner’s dismissal appeared to bring an end to a power struggle within Red Bull, although Marko played down that characterisation. “That’s how it’s always been described in the media, but it was nothing personal,” the 82-year-old told De Limburger.

“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.”

Mateschitz passed away in October 2022. “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.”

Lando Norris, McLaren,Max Verstappen, Red Bull Racing

That effort was successful, but it required Horner’s dismissal and the decision did not feel like a victory to Marko. “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.”

Verstappen, under the leadership of Horner’s replacement Laurent Mekies, mounted a comeback from a seemingly hopeless position after the summer break and finished just two points behind McLaren’s world champion Lando Norris.

“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].

“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.”

Ultimately, Horner lost Yoovidhya’s support. “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.”

“I felt something had been lost” – Why Helmut Marko is leaving Red Bull

Helmut Marko reveals Max Verstappen is his “most intimate” connection

To read more Motorsport.com articles visit our website.