Helmut Marko Insists Max Verstappen “Would’ve Been 2025 Champion” if Red Bull Sacked Christian Horner earlier

Helmut Marko boldly claimed that if Christian Horner were fired from Red Bull earlier, Max Verstappen would have a smooth sailing title win in 2025.

Helmut Marko Insists Max Verstappen “Would’ve Been 2025 Champion” if Red Bull Sacked Christian Horner earlier

Christian Horner, Max Verstappen and Helmut Marko (via Red Bull)

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Red Bull suffered from intense performance issues mid-way through the 2025 season. Though Max Verstappen kept up with impressive results, he was still seemingly out of championship contention and had given up on title hopes.

However, Christian Horner‘s sudden firing after serving the team for over two decades caused a massive shift in the team’s results. Laurent Mekies took the reins at Milton Keynes, and the team started performing much better. Now, Helmut Marko has pondered over the what-ifs if Horner was fired from the team much before than he did.

Christian Horner had been the one who led Red Bull since its inception in Formula 1 back in 2005. The Briton led a highly successful campaign with the Austrian constructor, overseeing eight drivers’ titles and six constructors’ championships to their name.

Still, he was snubbed from the team amid failing results and a problematic personal life. Amid all the chaos ongoing at Red Bull, Max Verstappen focused on his performances and kept delivering results in the 2025 season.

Meanwhile, Helmut Marko‘s power struggle still existed with Christian Horner until Red Bull fired him. Now that Marko has suffered from a similar fate to Horner, the former has resorted to firing some shots at the snubbed team principal. The Austrian declared that firing the longest-serving Team Principal in Formula 1 certainly wasn’t an easy decision, and the team did not see it as a victory either.

Helmut Marko pointed out that Red Bull had to abruptly fire Christian Horner as the on-track performance for the team was deteriorating significantly. Marko boldly claimed that if Horner were fired earlier than he did, Max Verstappen surely would have been the 2025 driver’s title against Lando Norris and Oscar Piastri. The 82-year-old doubled down on his claim and insisted that he was convinced of this possibility, but no point in discussing it anymore, as Verstappen lost out on the title by just two points.

No (it was not a victory). We had to act because performance on track was falling behind. 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.

Helmut Marko told De Limburger.

Helmut Marko reassures “nothing personal” against Christian Horner

Helmut Marko and Christian Horner had one of the greatest power struggles at Red Bull, especially after the CEO Dietrich Mateschitz‘s passing away. Though Marko tried his best to keep the team together, Horner seemed to be the bad apple in the basket. Despite the seemingly sour relations between the two former leaders of Red Bull, the 82-year-old talked about his relationship with the Briton.

Christian Horner, Dietrich Mateschitz and Helmut Marko (image via GPfans)
Christian Horner, Dietrich Mateschitz and Helmut Marko (image via GPfans)

Helmut Marko clarified that he did not have anything personal against Christian Horner despite what the media tried to portray. Marko recalled that back in 2005, it was he and Dietrich Mateschitz who formed Red Bull and appointed Horner as the Team Principal. As such, though the Briton was leading the outfit, the final calls were taken by the authorities back in Austria.

That’s how it’s always been described in the media, but it was nothing personal, Together with Didi [the late Red Bull founder Dietrich Mateschitz], I founded Red Bull Racing in 2005. We appointed Horner as team principal, and I was there as a supervisor. In principle, the power was always in Austria – we made the decisions.

Helmut Marko noted.

Regardless of what Helmut Marko has to say now, everyone witnessed a dramatic downfall for Red Bull in terms of performance in the ground-effect era. Sadly, Max Verstappen was caught in the crossfire of the interpersonal issues within the team leaders and couldn’t win the 2025 driver’s title. But now, the team is seemingly doing much better, especially with the new leader, Laurent Mekies, whose entry caused a sudden turnaround in performance for Milton Keynes.

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