Max Verstappen sensationally threatened to leave Red Bull on Friday evening if the team’s parent company fired motorsport consultant Helmut Marko, after the fallout from the Christian Horner controversy took a different turn.
Verstappen said he “couldn’t continue” without the man who brought him to Formula 1.
The three-time world champion was speaking after Marko revealed on Austrian television that he could be banned in the wake of the Christian Horner saga. The 50-year-old Red Bull team boss was acquitted 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 Red Bull GmbH is under a separate internal investigation into the leaks that occurred during last month’s internal investigation into Horner.
It is widely believed that Verstappen, who is under contract with Red Bull until 2028, has a clause in his contract that allows him to leave if Marko leaves.
There is a seat available at Mercedes next year, with Lewis Hamilton leaving for Ferrari, and rumors of Verstappen making a sensational move to Brackley have grown stronger in recent days. There is speculation that the Verstappen camp suspects that Mercedes’ powertrain could be better than Red Bull’s by 2026, if new regulations are introduced.
After taking pole for Saturday’s race, Verstappen raised the stakes even further by making it clear he was behind Marko.
“My loyalty to him is great,” he said. “It is very important that he stays in the team. Him and Dietrich [Mateschitz] built this team. I have the feeling that if such an important pillar disappears, it will not be good for me. For me, Helmut must stay.”
He later told Dutch media: “I cannot continue at Red Bull without Helmut. If this happens, it is an unworkable situation.”
Verstappen took pole for the second race of the season in Saudi Arabia on Friday, with British 18-year-old Ollie Bearman finishing a stunning 11th for Ferrari after receiving a late call-up for Carlos Sainz. The Spaniard had to undergo surgery due to appendicitis.
Marko ignores orders and opens the door for a possible exit from Verstappen
Just when it looked like the Red Bull controversy was running out of oxygen, with Christian Horner backed by the team’s majority owner, his wife Geri gave him ‘huge support’ and prepared to fly to Saudi Arabia to get back on track to be by his side, and even Jos Verstappen is silent for the time being, Helmut Marko comes along to pour kerosene over it.
Red Bull’s 80-year-old motorsport advisor provided a new dramatic twist on Friday evening to a bitter internal battle that now seems to be coming down to the wire. Marko’s admission that he could be suspended by Red Bull opens the door for Max Verstappen’s departure from the team as the world champion is believed to have a release clause in his contract that would allow him to walk if Marko were ever to leave .
The only question is what Marko’s motives were in giving his interview to the Austrian broadcaster ORF.
He may challenge Red Bull to fire him to pave the way for Verstappen’s departure.
It may be that Verstappen, like his father last weekend, says that Red Bull must fire Horner before the team implodes.
Anyway, in a new twist before the Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, Marko admitted to ORF that he could “theoretically” be suspended in the very near future by Red Bull GmbH, the parent company of Red Bull Racing.
It is unclear why he said that, although it now seems certain that Red Bull GmbH is conducting a separate internal investigation into the leaks during last month’s internal investigation into Horner.
The 50-year-old Red Bull team boss was acquitted last week of allegations of controlling behavior by a female colleague. His accuser has now been suspended as a direct result of that investigation.
It is understood that Marko has been instructed by his employers, Red Bull GmbH – the 80-year-old is not an employee of Red Bull Racing – not to give interviews to the media. But despite that order, Marko spoke to ORF in the Jeddah paddock ahead of qualifying. When asked how likely it was that he would not be involved in the next race, Marko replied cryptically: “It is difficult to judge. But ultimately I decide what I’m going to do.”
Asked if there was a possibility he could be banned in the near future, he said: “There is always a theoretical possibility.”
On the possibility of Verstappen leaving Red Bull, he added: “Max is definitely the strongest asset, there are no faster drivers at the moment. Losing him would be a great loss. Also for the mechanics and engineers, who all strive to work for Max.”
A Red Bull spokesperson told Telegraph Sport that Marko had not been suspended.
There is speculation that Marko has clashed with Red Bull GmbH’s Thai majority shareholder, Chalerm Yoovidhya.
After taking pole for Saturday’s race, Verstappen raised the stakes even further by making it clear he was behind Marko. “My loyalty to him is great,” he said. “It is very important that he stays in the team. Him and Dietrich [Mateschitz] built this team. I have the feeling that if such an important pillar disappears, it will not be good for me. For me, Helmut must stay.”
There are separate rumors in Jeddah that Yoovidhya could try to spin off Red Bull Racing from the Red Bull parent company in Salzburg.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff later appeared to taunt his rivals when he joked that he would consider including Marko in his team if he left Red Bull.
“We miss our old mascot anyway,” Wolff said, referring to the late three-time world champion Niki Lauda, a former non-executive chairman of Mercedes F1 and another Austrian. ‘Then we’ll just use Helmut. He’s the right age. He doesn’t have a red cap, but then he will come to us.” Wolff added: “If the team loses Helmut, it will certainly be a loss for Red Bull and for the team.”
Marko’s development comes as Horner and Red Bull faced further pressure from their rivals over their handling of the controversy.
Zak Brown, McLaren’s chief executive, said he had “never seen anything like this”, adding that Horner would certainly have been suspended if the same allegations had been made against him at McLaren.
In a speech on Thursday, Horner had said it was time to “draw a line” under the controversy, accusing Red Bull’s rivals of using the controversy for political gain.
However, Brown rejected that claim, insisting McLaren would have handled things very differently. “Having been in Formula 1 for decades, I can’t remember an incident like this,” Brown said.
“I don’t know the details. I know what we would do as McLaren: we would suspend the person while an investigation was ongoing, we would be extremely transparent about it.”
Brown added that if he had a driver vacancy, Verstappen would be his first option to fill it. “I couldn’t be happier with Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri,” he said. “It’s clear that Max is a huge talent, so if I had a seat available he would of course be at the top of my list.”