by Max Verstappen seriously threatened to quit Red Bull on Friday night if the team’s parent company got rid of its motorsport adviser Helmut Marko as the Christian Horner controversy took another turn.
Verstappen said he could not “go on” without the man who introduced him to Formula One.
The three-time world champion was speaking after Marko revealed on Austrian television that he could be suspended following the Christian Horner saga. The Red Bull team principal, 50, was cleared last week of allegations of controlling behavior by a female colleague. His accuser has now been suspended as a direct result of that investigation and it now appears that a separate internal investigation is underway at Red Bull GmbH into the leaks that occurred during Horner’s internal investigation last month.
Verstappen, who has a deal with Red Bull until 2028, is widely believed to have a clause in his contract that allows him to leave should Marko leave.
A seat is up for grabs at Mercedes next year with Lewis Hamilton leaving for Ferrari and rumors linking Verstappen with a stunning move to Brackley have grown stronger in recent days. There is speculation that the Verstappen camp will doubtless have a better Mercedes powertrain than Red Bull in 2026, when new regulations come into play.
Speaking after taking pole for Saturday’s race, Verstappen raised the stakes even further by clarifying his support for Marko.
“My loyalty to him is great,” he said. “It is very important that he stays within the team. He and Dietrich [Mateschitz] built this team. I think if a bullet falls so important that is not good for me. Helmut must stay with me.”
He later told the Dutch media: “I cannot continue at Red Bull without Helmut. If this happens, it will be an unworkable situation.”
Verstappen took pole on Friday for the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia, while Britain’s 18-year-old Ollie Bearman was 11th for Ferrari after receiving a late call for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had to undergo an operation for appendicitis.
Marko goes against orders and opens the door for Verstappen’s potential retirement
Just when it looked like the Red Bull controversy could be running out of oxygen, and Christian Horner with the support of the majority owner of the team, his wife Geri was “very supportive” of him and preparing to fly in to Saudi Arabia to be by his side again. , and even Jos Verstappen is quiet for the time being, Helmut Marko comes to pour kerosene over him.
The 80-year-old Red Bull motorsport consultant provided another dramatic twist on Friday night with a bitter internal battle that now looks like it’s going down to the wire. Marko’s admission that Red Bull could suspend him opens the door to Max Verstappen’s departure from the team, as the world champion is believed to have an escape clause in his contract that allows him to walk should Marko ever leave.
The only question is what were Marko’s motives when giving an interview to the Austrian broadcaster ORF.
He may be asking Red Bull to sack him, to pave the way for Verstappen’s departure.
Verstappen may be saying, as his father did last weekend, that Red Bull must sack Horner before the team leaves.
Either way, in a fresh twist ahead of the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Marko admitted to ORF that Red Bull Racing’s parent company, Red Bull GmbH, could “theoretically” suspend him in the near future.
It is not clear why he said it, although it seems certain now that Red Bull GmbH has a separate internal investigation into the leaks during Horner’s internal investigation last month.
The Red Bull team principal, 50, was cleared last week of allegations of controlling behavior by a female colleague. His accuser has now been suspended as a direct result of that investigation.
Marko is understood to have been instructed by his employers, Red Bull GmbH – the 80-year-old is not an employee of Red Bull Racing – not to give any interviews to the media. But despite that order, Marko spoke to ORF in Jeddah Polo before he qualified. When asked how likely it was that he wouldn’t be involved in the next race, Marko replied cryptically: “It’s hard to judge. But at the end of the day, I will decide for myself what I will do.”
Pressed on whether it could be suspended in the near future, he said: “The theoretical possibility is always there.”
On the possibility of Verstappen leaving Red Bull, he said: “Max is definitely the strongest asset, there are no faster drivers at the moment. To lose him would be a great loss. Also to the mechanics and engineers, who go out of their way to work for Max.”
A spokesman for Red Bull told Telegraph Sport that Marko had not been suspended.
Speculation on the ground is that Marko has fallen foul of Thai Red Bull GmbH majority owner Chalerm Yoovidhya.
Speaking after taking pole for Saturday’s race, Verstappen raised the stakes even further by clarifying his support for Marko. “My loyalty to him is great,” he said. “It is very important that he stays within the team. He and Dietrich [Mateschitz] built this team. I think if a bullet falls so important that is not good for me. Helmut must stay with me.”
There are separate rumors in Jeddah that Yoovidhya may try to spin off Red Bull Racing from Red Bull’s parent company in Salzburg.
Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff appeared to be mocking his rivals when he joked that he would consider bringing Marko into his team if he left Red Bull.
“We’re missing our old mare anyway,” Wolff said, referring to three-time world champion Niki Lauda, former non-executive chairman of Mercedes F1 and another Austrian. “Then we’ll use Helmut. He is the right age. He doesn’t have a red cap, but then he’ll be with us.” Wolff added: “If the team loses Helmut, it will definitely be a loss for Red Bull and the team.”
Marko and Horner’s development comes as Red Bull face added pressure from their rivals to handle the controversy.
McLaren chief executive Zak Brown said he had seen “nothing of the sort”, adding that Horner would certainly be suspended if the same allegations were made against him at McLaren.
Speaking on Thursday, Horner said it was time to “draw a line” at the controversy, accusing rivals Red Bull of using the controversy for political gain.
However, Brown dismissed that claim, arguing that McLaren’s handling of things would be very different. “Being around Formula One for so many years, I can’t recall an incident like this,” said Brown.
“I don’t know the details. I know what we would do as McLaren, we would suspend the person pending an investigation, we would be very transparent about it.”
Brown said that if he had a driver vacancy, Verstappen would be his first choice to fill it. “I couldn’t be happier with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri,” he said. “Max is obviously a massive talent and of course if I had a seat available he would be at the top of my list.”
