Helmut Marko reveals F1 personnel change which turned Max Verstappen season around

dr. Helmut Marko and Christian Horner from Red Bull Racing — Photo: © IMAGO

Formula 1

Helmut Marko reveals personnel change which turned Verstappen season around

Red Bull axed Christian Horner in July

By Sam Cook.

Wednesday 22 October 2025 16:57

Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has admitted that the team had given up on their season before making a major change.

Christian Horner was unceremoniously dumped by the team back in July, with Laurent Mekies being promoted from junior team Racing Bulls to fill the gap.

Horner had won eight drivers' championships and six constructors' championships across 20 years as team boss with the Milton Keynes outfit, but it was looking unlikely that they would challenge for either honour in 2025 when Horner was axed.

Article continues under video

Since then, Max Verstappen has claimed three grands prix victories, and is in the hunt for the drivers' title, currently sat just 40 points behind championship leader Oscar Piastri with five race weekends remaining.

The Red Bull looks competitive at every race weekend compared to the previously dominant McLaren, and Marko has praised both the form of Verstappen, and the small tweaks that have been made by Mekies.

Speaking to Sky Germany after the United States Grand Prix in which Verstappen claimed sprint race and main race victories, Marko said: "With his victory at the Nurburgring, Max Verstappen has come back incredibly motivated.

Marko later continued: "We had already given up everything in the summer, and now everyone is hungry again."

Will Verstappen win the title?

Four-time world champion Verstappen is arguably now the favourite to claim drivers' championship success in 2025.

He has whittled down Piastri's lead over him to just 40 points, when it was at one point sat at 104 points.

Between himself, Piastri and Lando Norris, Verstappen is the only one to have championship-winning pedigree, and will be using every ounce of that experience in the coming months.

On top of this, shortly after Mekies joined the team, Verstappen confirmed that he will be staying at Red Bull for the 2026 season, a huge boost to the outfit who are hoping to once more challenge for titles next year.

Formula 1