Helmut Marko called out for wild Christian Horner rant as ‘big deal’ between duo exposed | F1 | Sport

Former F1 star turned pundit Ralf Schumacher has called out Helmut Marko over his wild rant against Christian Horner in the aftermath of his F1 retirement. The ex-Toyota and Williams racer also revealed that the two former Red Bull bosses were “planning to do a big deal together” earlier in their careers.

While Marko and Horner worked alongside one another during the most successful period of Red Bull’s F1 history in the ground-effect era, the pair had their differences, and tension was a constant, particularly during the 2024 campaign.

Horner was sacked from his position as team principal after the British Grand Prix in July, bringing an end to a 20-year stint at the helm of the Milton Keynes squad. Marko followed his former colleague out of the door at the end of the 2025 campaign, announcing his F1 retirement after watching Max Verstappen narrowly miss out on a fifth straight title.

Days after his exit was confirmed, Marko gave a scathing interview with De Telegraaf, digging into Horner and accusing his former team-mate of playing “dirty games” with the media.

“That’s how it was always described in the media, but it was nothing personal,” he explained. “Together with Didi (Dietrich Mateschitz), I founded Red Bull Racing in 2005. We appointed Horner as team principal, and I was there as an overseer.

“The power was always essentially in Austria; we were the ones calling the shots. I remember a party in 2022 before the Austrian Grand Prix. Didi was there, but not in good health. Christian came to me and said, ‘He won’t make it to the end of the year.’

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

Marko later alleged that fabricated quotes were used in an attempt to get him suspended, but Verstappen intervened to prevent him from being removed from his position. According to Schumacher, though, the 82-year-old’s comments were a matter of “hanging out dirty laundry”.

“It was clear: there were two camps,” Schumacher told Sky Germany. “But as much as I like Helmut, I have to remind him that even during Dietrich Mateschitz’s lifetime, he had the chance to sack Horner. Back then, the two were very, very close and had united around a particular cause.

“In fact, they were actually planning to do a big deal together. I won’t say which one now, that wouldn’t be entirely fair, but Marko knows exactly what I mean. At the time, Mateschitz already wanted to get rid of Horner, because he did not consider him loyal. That didn’t sit well with Mateschitz either.”

Schumacher later added: “That’s exactly why I have to say: he’s right, but it’s also a bit of hanging out dirty laundry that he himself could have prevented. That’s just the situation now.”