### Helmut Marko’s Explosive Exit Interview: Blames Delayed Horner Sacking for Verstappen’s Lost 2025 Title

In a bombshell farewell interview just days after announcing his departure from Red Bull after two decades, Helmut Marko has unleashed a scathing attack on former team principal Christian Horner, claiming that Max Verstappen would have clinched his fifth consecutive Formula 1 world championship in 2025 if Horner had been dismissed earlier.

The 82-year-old Austrian, speaking to Dutch publication De Limburger, insisted that Horner’s mid-season sacking in July – following the British Grand Prix – came too late to fully salvage Red Bull’s faltering campaign. “We had to act because performance on track was falling behind,” Marko said. “And if we had done it earlier, we would have got things back on track sooner and Max Verstappen would have been world champion this year. I am absolutely convinced of that.”

Verstappen’s 2025 season was a tale of two halves. Early struggles with the RB21 car saw the Dutch driver trailing significantly, but after Laurent Mekies replaced Horner as team principal, Red Bull mounted a stunning late-season resurgence. Verstappen won multiple races post-summer break, closing a massive gap to finish just two points behind McLaren’s Lando Norris in Abu Dhabi. Norris claimed his maiden title, ending Verstappen’s dominance.

Marko rejected suggestions that Horner’s exit was a personal victory for him amid their long-rumored power struggle. “No,” he stated bluntly, framing it as a necessary move to arrest the team’s decline. Yet he didn’t hold back on the internal turmoil, accusing Horner of playing “dirty games” in his final years and fabricating stories to undermine him.

One example Marko cited was a controversial 2023 remark allegedly about Sergio Perez’s Mexican heritage affecting his focus – which Marko claims was entirely made up, possibly by Horner’s camp. He also alleged Horner spread false rumors in 2024 that Red Bull’s engine program was delayed, risking the Ford partnership, in a bid to get Marko suspended. “I never said that, but Horner wanted to use it to have me suspended,” Marko revealed. “Because of Max’s support in Jeddah, that didn’t happen.”

The roots of the conflict, according to Marko, trace back to 2022 and the declining health of Red Bull co-founder Dietrich Mateschitz. Marko recounted Horner approaching him at a party, predicting Mateschitz “won’t make it to the end of the year,” before allegedly cozying up to Thai majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya to seize control after Mateschitz’s death. “On behalf of ‘Austria’, I did everything possible to prevent that,” Marko said.

Marko also dismissed Red Bull’s official statement on his own departure as “full of nonsense,” revealing he had to personally call Verstappen to break the news. His exit marks the end of an era, following Horner’s sacking and the departures of key figures like Adrian Newey and Jonathan Wheatley.

Despite the bitterness, Marko expressed pride in Verstappen, whom he scouted and nurtured from a teenager. As Red Bull enters a new chapter under Mekies ahead of the 2026 regulations reset, questions linger: Will Verstappen stay loyal without his longtime mentor? And could Horner’s reported interest in a paddock return stir more drama?

Marko’s parting shots have reignited debate over Red Bull’s internal chaos, which many believe cost them dominance in 2025. One thing is clear – the gloves are off in this no-holds-barred tell-all.