Rumours that the two former Red Bull head honchos have been at loggerheads appear to be true

The rift between former Red Bull Racing head honchos Christian Horner and Dr Helmut Marko has come to the fore following the Austrian’s exit from the team.

Horner, the team principal since 2005, was sacked after the British Grand Prix in summer following the team’s disappointing start to the season, while Marko will walk away from his role as senior adviser at the end of the year.

The duo helped the Tilbrook team to multiple world championships, dominating eras with both Sebastian Vettel and Max Verstappen at the wheel.

But rumours of turbulence between the pair began to emerge in 2022 following the death of Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz, further widening in 2024 when Horner was accused of inappropriate behaviour towards a female employee.

There were also claims four-time champ Verstappen stepped into the battle between the duo when it was alleged Marko was set to be ousted, while the Austrian was also made to apologise on several occasions for making comments in the media, in particular one made about former driver Sergio Perez.

Dr Marko though, never one to shy away from voicing his opinion, has launched an attack aimed at Horner for looking to ‘cosy up’ with Thai owner Chalerm Yoovidhya in the aftermath of Mateschitz’s death to harness further control of the team.

“Those last few years with Horner were not pleasant,” he said. “There were dirty games being played,

“When Didi passed away later that year, he did everything he could to take over with Yoovidhya’s support. From that moment on, he started cosying up to Chalerm Yoovidhya. On behalf of ‘Austria’, I did everything I could to prevent that from happening.”

Marko claimed several rumours regarding his comments were fabricated, citing not only his comments about Perez but also claims Red Bull’s engine partnership with Ford for 2026 was behind schedule.

He continued: “Just like I supposedly spread the rumour in 2024 that the development of our engine was behind schedule and that we would therefore lose Ford as our sponsor.

“I never said that, but Horner wanted to use it to suspend me. Because Max stepped in at Jeddah, it didn’t happen.”

Horner though soon lost the backing of the Thai owners, prompting his departure in July, with Marko adding: “We were increasingly able to prove that Horner was lying about all sorts of things. Once Chalerm realised this too, he had a change of heart.”