Red Bull F1 civil war rages on as Helmut Marko takes aim at Jos Verstappen over Christian Horner jibe

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Red Bull civil war rages on as Marko takes aim at Jos Verstappen over Horner jibe

Helmut Marko hits out at Jos Verstappen

Harry Whitfield

Friday 30 August 2024 20:15 Updated: 21:45

The drama continues to unfold at Red Bull as Helmut Marko takes a dig at Jos Verstappen regarding his shaky relationship with Christian Horner.

Max Verstappen was beaten by Lando Norris by over 22 seconds at the Dutch GP last weekend as Red Bull had to deal with being second best to the McLaren.

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The 26-year-old's father has been very vocal about the lack of performance from Red Bull and rumours suggest he wants his son to consider a move to rivals Mercedes.

Marko on the other hand insists that the three-time world champion will stay with the Austrian outfit for the 2025 season and even accused Jos Verstappen of demonstrating disloyalty to his son's team.

Jos Verstappen previously managed his son in F1

Red Bull's last victory was the Spanish GP back in June

Marko: Verstappen favours Wolff over Horner

After Red Bull's recent struggles, it had been reported that Toto Wolff was interested in signing the Dutchman to Mercedes for the 2025 season.

However, in a recent interview with the Inside Line F1 podcast, Marko confirmed Wolff's interest in their driver and the reality of the 'summer meeting' between the Mercedes boss and Red Bull's top driver.

"He wouldn't be a good team principal if he wouldn't try to get Max. I think every top team would like to have Max," Marko stated.

"And the other story… all the people live in Monte Carlo. If there's not a Grand Prix, it's a quiet place. There are not so many coffee shops, so it's just natural that you run into each other. And of course, Toto makes a story of it."

Returning his attention to the champion's father, Marko stated: "On the other hand, Jos Verstappen I think is a bigger fan of Toto than he is of Christian."

The Red Bull director went on to explain why he thinks Jos Verstappen is open to the idea of his son leaving the team, aside from his obvious issues with the Red Bull principal.

"Every contract with a top Formula 1 driver has exit clauses, which are mainly based on performance," he said.

Max Verstappen's Red Bull has underperformed in recent races

"You have to ask Jos but at the moment, Max is focused on winning the championship, as the team is focused on winning this championship, and you have to look forward.

"In 2026 new rules are coming, so nobody knows at the moment who will have a competitive engine.

"Of course, what happened in 2014 when all of a sudden, the engine we used was at least 50 horsepower or more behind and was not reliable, so you really don't know what will happen.

"But at the moment everything is clear, Max will drive for Red Bull Racing next season. And we have to give him a car that can win, and then all these rumours will, I think, stop immediately."

Red Bull Max Verstappen Lewis Hamilton Ferrari Mercedes McLaren