Helmut Marko claps back at Christian Horner’s ‘absolute lie’ about Max Verstappen
Helmut Marko has countered Christian Horner's astonishing claim about Max Verstappen.
Helmut Marko has hit back at former Red Bull Formula 1 team principal Christian Horner’s astonishing claim about Max Verstappen.
In his new autobiography, Drive, which releases on 22 October, Horner makes the bombshell accusation that former colleague and Red Bull advisor Marko did not want Verstappen in the team.
According to Horner’s claim, Verstappen’s father, Jos, had to make a big push to get the deal over the line. Marko has now responded to Horner’s account of what happened.
"I'm ignoring it as much as possible. Ralf Schumacher handled it very well,” Marko told Austrian outlet OE24.
The 83-year-old Austrian, who left Red Bull at the end of 2025, was referring to Ralf Schumacher’s insistence that Horner’s claim was an “absolute lie” in an episode of the Backstage Boxengasse podcast.
"Marko approached Max when he was just 11 and a half years old. At the time, Jos said it was still too early for him,” the former F1 driver added. “The doctor, as you know him, was a bit miffed and said: 'Okay, if you don't want to, then so be it.’”
Schumacher’s version of events differs from that of Horner, and Marko has made it clear who is telling the truth.
“It worked out well the way it did,” Marko continued. “Max was successful in karting back then, and we had no idea about that.
“Later in Formula 3, we would have grown closer again, and that’s how this unprecedented success story came about.”
Countering Horner, Marko claims that the Briton expressed doubts about promoting Verstappen to Red Bull just four races into the 2016 season.
Verstappen would go on to claim a sensational victory on his Red Bull debut at the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix, becoming F1’s youngest-ever winner in the process.
“I brought Max into Formula 1 and had to stand my ground against Horner at his first race for Red Bull in Barcelona. He thought Max was too young, too inexperienced,” Marko alleges.
Marko and Horner’s relationship is known to have deteriorated after Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz’s death.
A power struggle ensued, with Horner ultimately removed from his post days after the 2025 British Grand Prix, ending his 20-year reign at the helm of the team.
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