Helmut Marko hits out at Red Bull F1 'nonsense'

Photo: © IMAGO

Red Bull

Marko hits out at Red Bull 'nonsense'

Helmut Marko left Red Bull at the end of 2025

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Sunday 11 January 2026 15:52

Former Red Bull F1 advisor Helmut Marko has hit out at a 'nonsense' press release from the team.

Marko opted to retire from his role as motorsport advisor at the end of the 2025 season, following 20 years in the job.

The Austrian had overseen a plethora of talented young racing stars go on to become F1 superstars during his time in the role, most notably four-time world champions Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen.

Article continues under video

However, following Verstappen's inability to claim a record-equalling fifth consecutive title in 2025, Marko opted to leave his role and retire, with the Austrian not far off his 83rd birthday.

Marko has now suggested that his decision to leave had nothing to do with Verstappen failing to win the drivers' championship in 2025, dismissing a Red Bull press release saying that was the case as 'nonsense'.

The Red Bull legend has been rather critical of the top brass at the team since he left his position, and he has continued on in that fashion, saying 'a lot has changed'.

"I don't want to go into too much detail, but I didn't read that nonsense press release," Marko told De Limburger. "Let me just say that a lot has changed at the team in a short time. You think you know people well, but then it turns out you don't...

"No, I'll say no more. And that fifth title wouldn't have changed anything, you know. It was my ultimate dream to make it five in a row with Verstappen, the best driver we've ever had. But it wasn't meant to be, even though I had high hopes for the final race."

Marko's damning Red Bull quotes

Marko has been increasingly critical about Red Bull since leaving the team, and has threatened to destabilise what had seemed to have become a more settled outfit since Laurent Mekies became team principal in 2025.

Mekies' promotion came as a result of the sacking of Christian Horner last July, who had held the position for the last 20 years.

After confirming his retirement from Red Bull after the 2025 season, Marko issued an interview with De Telegraaf about the ins and outs of his relationship with Horner in the final few years of the Brit's tenure.

He claimed that the Brit changed following the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz in 2022, and that he tried to 'take over' the outfit.

"Together with Didi [Mateschitz], I founded Red Bull Racing in 2005," Marko said. "We appointed Horner as team principal, and I was there as an overseer.

"The power was always essentially in Austria; we were the ones calling the shots. I remember a party in 2022 before the Austrian Grand Prix. Didi was there, but not in good health. Christian came to me and said, 'He won't make it to the end of the year.'

"From that moment on, he started getting friendly with Chalerm Yoovidhya. When Didi passed away 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.

"We were increasingly able to prove that Horner was lying about everything under the sun," Marko continued. "Once Chalerm [Yoovidhya, co-owner of Red Bull GmbH] realised this, he came to his senses.

"But those last years with Horner weren't pleasant. Dirty tricks were played. Do you remember me saying, back in the Sergio Perez era, that Mexicans are less focused than the Dutch or Germans? That was fabricated, perhaps even by them.

"Just like I supposedly said in 2024 that our engine development was behind schedule and that we would therefore lose Ford as our sponsor. I never said that, but Horner wanted to use that to get me suspended. Because Max stepped up to the plate in Jeddah, it didn't happen."

F1 Red Bull Helmut Marko