Christian Horner dismisses rumors of friction between him and Helmut Marko
During the summer, rumors were circulating in the paddock that Christian Horner wanted to oust Helmut Marko from the Red Bull fold, following the potential comments made by the Austrian about Sergio Perez. The Red Bull team principal vehemently denied these allegations.
While Red Bull and Max Verstappen have been dominating this F1 season, Helmut Marko made headlines for controversial remarks that he allegedly made about Sergio Perez’s nationality. After these rumors, other reports suggesting that Christian Horner, the executive director of the Red Bull team, may have tried to oust the Austrian, circulated in the paddock.
The Briton admitted that there were some minor differences of opinions between him and the head of Red Bull’s junior driver program, but that everything is fine between the two men. Helmut Marko added a little ironic comment by stating that Horner wouldn’t be the person to tell him when his time in F1 is up.
The octogenarian also highlighted his role as well as that of the Red Bull team director. Christian takes care of the operations and I am more involved in the strategy. It’s good. It has worked so far and we will see that it will also work in the future. This is how the division of labor looks like, Helmut Marko explains.
« Helmut and I have known each other for 27 years »
In an interview with the media PlanetF1.com, Christian Horner addressed the origin of the rumor about Helmut Marko’s ‘comments’ against Sergio Perez and reminded the strong relationship he has with the native of Graz.
« When something like that happens, you have to take it with a lot of humor because, I mean, they are so far from the mark. But unfortunately, in the world we live in, when someone writes something on an obscure Brazilian website and by the time it’s translated into four different languages, it suddenly gains momentum… It takes on a life of its own and often there is absolutely nothing to these stories », claims the British person.
« I think that we have been here long enough and are smart enough to know not to believe everything you read. Helmut and I have known each other for 27 years. We have always had a very strong and open relationship. So, on that, nothing has changed. The problem with this relationship is that it does not exist through the media, continues the director of the Red Bull team.
The executive director of the Red Bull team believes that the other teams want to disrupt the Austrians. « There is probably not much you can write about. On something like this, it is probably certain that our competitors are trying to stir the flames on anything that could destabilize the team. This is a normal practice in this paddock », concludes Horner.
