Marko Claims Earlier Horner Exit Would Have Secured Verstappen 2025 Title

Helmut Marko asserts that Max Verstappen would have won the 2025 Formula 1 World Championship if Red Bull had dismissed Team Principal Christian Horner earlier in the season. The former senior advisor, who has now also left the team, claims internal politics and performance issues cost Red Bull the title.

Why it matters:

Marko's explosive public comments provide a rare, unfiltered glimpse into the intense power struggle that destabilized the reigning champion team throughout the 2025 season. His claim directly links Red Bull's on-track performance to its off-track leadership crisis, suggesting the internal drama had a tangible, championship-deciding cost.

The details:

• Marko told Dutch media he is "absolutely convinced" an earlier leadership change would have accelerated Red Bull's mid-season turnaround, giving Verstappen enough points to overcome Lando Norris's final two-point margin.
• He described Horner's final years as "not pleasant," alleging "dirty games" were played, including the fabrication of controversial quotes attributed to Marko himself to undermine his position.
• Power Struggle Timeline: Marko alleges Horner began aligning with Thai majority shareholder Chalerm Yoovidhya in 2022, prior to founder Dietrich Mateschitz's death, in a bid to seize control from the Austrian faction of the company.
• Breaking Point: Marko claims Yoovidhya's support for Horner only shifted when the Austrian camp was "increasingly able to prove that Horner was lying about all sorts of things."
• Contradictory Exit: Marko labeled the official press release announcing his departure as "full of nonsense," contradicting Red Bull GmbH's statement that it was his own decision. He revealed he had to urgently call Verstappen to inform him of the news.

The big picture:

The 2025 season will be remembered as the year Red Bull's dominant sporting machinery was finally matched, not just by McLaren's car, but by its own internal chaos. The public feud between Horner and Marko, a long-simmering tension within the team, erupted and ultimately claimed both of its most prominent non-driving figures. Their departures mark the end of an era for the team they built from the ground up, leaving a significant leadership vacuum as it heads into 2026.

What's next:

With both Horner and Marko gone, the focus shifts to new team principal Laurent Mekies and whether he can stabilize the operation. The bigger question surrounds Max Verstappen's long-term contentment within a team that has lost its foundational pillars, especially his key ally Marko, which could influence the driver market in coming years.