Helmut Marko hits out at Christian Horner in shocking Red Bull power struggle revelation

Helmut Marko has disclosed some of the details of the internal power struggle at Red Bull, which ultimately culminated in Christian Horner being fired as team principal soon after the British Grand Prix earlier this year.

The former motorsport adviser for the Milton Keynes-based squad argued that the Briton used the passing of Dietrich Mateschitz, the influential founder of the energy drinks manufacturer and subsequent sports empire, to try to wrestle control of the F1 team.

Using the support of Red Bull GmbH co-founder Chalerm Yoovidhya, Horner tried to shift the power balance towards the Thai side of the company.

There were flashpoints between Horner and Marko. When the accusations of inappropriate conduct were made against the 52-year-old in early 2024, internal politics destabilised the team and caused considerable tension.

18 months later, the former was gone amid poor on-track performance from the six-time F1 constructors' champions, having worked alongside the latter for over 20 years.

When reflecting on Horner's dismissal, Marko explained that it had been painted as the 'Austrian side' of the business winning the power struggle.

"That is how it has always been described in the media, but it was nothing personal," he told De Limburger. "Together with Didi [Dietrich Mateschitz], I founded Red Bull Racing in 2005.

"We appointed Horner as team boss, and I was there as supervisor. Basically, the power was always in Austria, we decided.

"I remember a party in 2022 prior to the Austrian Grand Prix. Didi was there, but not in good health. Christian came to me then and said, 'He won't make it to the end of the year.'

"From that point on, he began cosying up to Chalerm Yoovidhya. When Didi died later that year, he did everything he could to take over with Yoovidhya's support. I did everything I could on behalf of 'Austria' to prevent that."

'Dirty games' being played

However, Horner being relieved of his duties in July is not what Marko considers a victory, having escaped being suspended from the team early in 2024 when close ally Max Verstappen stepped in.

Rather, it was predominantly down to the waning results from the F1 team, with the 82-year-old adamant that Verstappen would have won a fifth consecutive F1 drivers' championship had action been taken sooner. 

"We had to do something because performance on the track was lagging," the Austrian explained. "Had we done that earlier, by the way, we would have gotten it on track faster this year, and Max would have become world champion.

"I'm absolutely convinced of that. But those last years with Horner were not pleasant. Dirty games were played."

Expanding on his remarks about Horner, he provided insight into the dynamics of the team towards the end of the Briton's tenure at the helm.

"Can you remember back in the days of Sergio Pérez when it was claimed I said that Mexicans are less focused than the Dutch or Germans? That was fabricated, perhaps by them," he said.

"Just like when I spread in 2024 that the development of our engine was behind schedule and that we would lose Ford as our sponsor as a result.

"[I] never said that, but Horner wanted to use that to suspend me. Because Max then stepped into the breach in Jeddah, it didn't happen."

Describing how Horner came to be fired, Marko detailed how Yoovidhya was slowly brought round to letting him go, adding: "More and more often we were able to show that Horner was lying about everything and anything.

"Once Chalerm realised that too, he reconsidered."