Helmut Marko hit with sharp criticism over Christian Horner takedown

Ralf Schumacher has called out Helmut Marko for "hanging out dirty laundry" upon his exit from Red Bull at the conclusion of the 2025 F1 season.

The Austrian decided to walk away from the Milton Keynes-based squad after over two decades, where he was instrumental in the development of young drivers through its junior programme and operated as a motorsport adviser for parent company Red Bull GmbH.

In bringing 17 drivers — 18, including Arvid Lindblad, who will debut in 2026 — into F1, the 82-year-old has left a significant legacy at the team, having helped establish multiple world champions in Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen and race winners in Daniel Ricciardo and Pierre Gasly.

However, Marko did not leave quietly, labelling the press release confirming his departure as "full of nonsense" and taking aim at former team principal Christian Horner in a withering takedown, accusing the Briton of "dirty games" and stating that Max Verstappen would have won the F1 drivers' championship in 2025 had he been fired sooner.

In response, Schumacher has been quick to point out that Marko had to opportunity to relieve Horner of his duties when Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz was still alive.

"It was clear: there were two camps," the former Jordan, Williams and Toyota driver told Sky Sports Germany.

"But as much as I like Helmut, I have to remind him that even during Dietrich Mateschitz's lifetime, he had the chance to sack Horner. Back then, the two were very, very close and had united around a particular cause.

"In fact, they were actually planning to do a big deal together. I won't say which one now, that wouldn't be entirely fair, but Marko knows exactly what I mean.

"At the time, Mateschitz already wanted to get rid of Horner, because he did not consider him loyal. That didn't sit well with Mateschitz either."

The 'dirty laundry'

Schumacher went on to accuse Marko of airing his dirty washing now, having not taken decisive action when he had the opportunity, with Mateschitz's death effectively rendering him unable to prevent Horner's increasing power base at the team.

The six-time grand prix winner added: "Especially after Mateschitz had died and Horner, thanks to the Thai shareholder with whom he had a very good relationship and which he had deliberately built up, got such a strong position, the Red Bull side from Salzburg, and also Marko, were somewhat powerless.

"That's exactly why I have to say: he's right, but it's also a bit of hanging out dirty laundry that he himself could have prevented. That's just the situation now."

Marko also claimed that, over time, the Austrian side of the company was about to convince Horner's key ally, Charlem Yoovidhya, that it needed to remove the former team principal from his position, which ultimately happened in July, shortly after the British Grand Prix.

Horner received a significant buy-out, in the region of £52 million, and has been notably quiet as he awaits his first chance to return to F1 in April, after the conclusion of his gardening leave.

"He obviously had great ambitions that reached deep into the top of the group, thanks in part to the strong position of the Thai side within the company," Schumacher said of Horner.

"Those have now obviously been rewarded with a princely sum. That is also why I think Horner has basically entered into an obligation of silence."

Whilst Schumacher agrees with Marko and his comments, he does not believe the timing was right for those remarks, nor the contentious way in which they were delivered.

"I also believe that the Red Bull side in Salzburg as a whole is not really happy with Marko's statements," the German explained.

"But one has to agree with Marko: the team was a disaster. It fell apart, it lost an awful lot of people, and that solely because of Horner and the way he operated. At least that's how it was told internally.

"The image was: it was him [Horner], he had achieved everything, and he didn't need anyone else. That cost Red Bull a lot of good people. The big problem was just that nobody wanted to come anymore. It took a long time for Red Bull to solve this, and that too in consultation with the Thai side.

"So yes, Marko is right. Personally, I would have preferred it if he had said this when he was still there, when he was still in office and with dignity. And then also in a calm way, without controversy. This afterthought is actually not very neat."