After failing to fight for the title during the turbo-hybrid era, Christian Horner successfully dragged Red Bull out of their slump. The Briton led the team to two championships in the two most recent seasons. Although Ted Kravitz believes that Horner is one of the best team principals in F1, he yet believes that the 50-year-old could have done a better job at handling Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko.
While talking about the weak points that Horner perhaps had in his leadership this year, Kravitz said on the Sky Sports F1 Podcast, “You can mark down Christian Horner this year for the way that the Sergio Perez situation was dealt with and the way that he was not able to control Helmut Marko.”
According to Kravitz and fellow pundit David Croft, barring the controversies surrounding Marko, Horner flawlessly led Red Bull in 2023. Many times the Austrian slammed Perez in public. Things seemingly got out of hand when the 80-year-old launched a “South American” jibe at the Mexican.
“Let’s remember that he (Perez) is South American. And so, his head is not as focused as Max Verstappen or as Sebastian Vettel,” said Marko. However, some would perhaps argue that Horner did handle the situation well by publicly discrediting Marko’s status as a Red Bull employee whilst also maintaining a hint of diplomacy as he addressed the issue.
Has Christian Horner had enough of Helmut Marko’s antics at Red Bull?
Helmut Marko has never been the one to mince his words. Rather, he’s always been a nightmare for the public relations team of Red Bull. The 80-year-old is known for his outrageous comments and criticism. Sergio Perez has faced the bulk and the worst of it this past year.
However, it is pertinent to note that several other drivers have also faced Marko’s severe criticism in the past. For instance, Marko once claimed that Lewis Hamilton should’ve retired after losing out to Max Verstappen in 2021 despite the controversy surrounding the title decider in Abu Dhabi.
This resulted in immense criticism from fans online and a personal comment from Hamilton, too. While addressing Marko’s comments, the Briton categorized it as “disrespectful” and claimed, “I take that as fuel. I’m putting that into the pot.”
But it would appear as though enough is enough for Horner. Latest reports emerging out of the paddock suggest that a power tussle has ensued between the two. The reports claim that Horner wants Marko out of Red Bull.
